"My daughter keeps asking where is her mother," Sharmistha Bhattacharjee's husband; Police detains LPG truck that smashed her body

Teacher by profession, Sharmistha Bhattacharjee (Nath) lost her life in one of the most devastating accidents of recent times. Yesterday, when she was on her way back to home after duty, pillion riding on a colleague’s motorcycle, they collided head-on with a Maruti Van. Unfortunately Bhattacharjee fell off between the two sets of wheels of a trailing LPG Cylinder Truck. Her body was smashed and she lost her life on the spot.

Back home, her husband is still dealing with the shock of losing his long-term friend, partner and wife of just over four years. “I have never, in my wildest dreams, imagined a life without her,” he reacts. “What am I supposed to tell my daughter who has just turned three? She keeps asking me where is mumma and when will mumma come home..” he breaks down.

Yesterday, Sharmistha Bhattacharjee popularly known as ‘Dimpi’ in Tarapur area, got stuck in a meeting. She was worried that her daughter is waiting for her, probably hungry. She rushed to a autorickshaw and sat on it, as stated by her colleagues in the school she was employed as a teacher. After she sat on the rickshaw, a Sarada Lane, Tarapur resident and her colleague in the same School, Utpal Das offered to drop her at home.

“She never rides on motorcycles. Even when she is traveling with her husband, they prefer car to motorcycle, but somehow, yesterday, she accepted the offer to ride on Utpal Das’ bike and as destiny would have it, she never reached home,” said a friend who grew up with her.

“What ill-fate. If she had already sat on the rickshaw, why did fate pulled her down and brought her to the motorcycle. What wrath of God for me, her daughter and the entire family,” her husband, Mani Shankar Bhattacharjee adds.

Meanwhile, Utpal Das who also got injured in the accident and was being treated at Silchar Medical College and Hospital, has been transferred to a hospital in Guwahati. According to medical sources, his family members have discharged him at their own risk against doctors’ advise.

Silchar Traffic Branch is investigating the case. So far, the Police have detained three vehicles, the motorcycle, the maruti van and the LPG-truck that allegedly smashed Sharmishta Bhattacharjee’s head. A senior Police official said, “It is a series of unbelievably unfortunate events that took her life. While the accident could have been avoided at the first place if there wasn’t an attempt to overtake from the motorcycle rider. Once they were trying to overtake, unfortunately, they collided with the vehicle from the opposite direction. Even after the head-on collision, there was a chance for survival but she landed between the wheels. This is what we have gathered from circumstantial evidence and statements from eyewitnesses. The investigation is still ongoing…”