Couple of weeks back, one Sunday night I was driving back home, on the Mumbai Highway in Hyderabad. Considering it was late in the night and close to 10 PM, the road was largely empty except for few trucks and heavy vehicles, that were on their way to destinations far away. Driving on a regular route amidst familiar roads, I was on auto-drive mode, with minimum attention necessitated for the road, while my mind was half-occupied with a random set of thoughts.
And that was when, I got a mental alert to divert full-attention back on the road. There seemed to be unfamiliar object in the path. From a distance, it looked like a bright cloth flown away onto the highway, and fluttering on the road in the night's wind. Unsure if it was big enough warranting a diversion or a drive right-through, I moved ahead. Turning on the high beam, as a last minute decision, I decided to swerve around the road to avoid hitting it. The more I swerved, the longer it seemed to stretch and I pulled across more than half of the road to avoid it.
That's when, a sideways glance struck me with the horror sight - it was a lady's body lying apparently motionless, right across the breadth of the road. A couple of vehicles behind me were now past the body and had avoided it as well, but were speeding on. At this time of the night and with pitch darkness in the highway, some vehicle was sure to run over the body, even if it were lifeless. With a thousand thoughts rushing through my mind, I finally decided to pull over.
Hurriedly parking the car by the road-side, I ran back towards the body on the center of the road. By then, a couple riding a bike had pulled over and were moving towards the body as well. Signalling to the vehicles that were rushing on behind, we lifted the body and carried it to the deserted pavement. It was a lady who must have been in her mid-twenties, she had a deep cut in her forehead and was bleeding profusely. The lady wore a bright red salwar and looked like a part of the tribals who camp by the road side on the outskirts. Fortunately, there were signs of life, but she was unconscious.
As we rested her on the pavement, the girl who was riding with her husband started cleaning up the wounds. By then, a small gathering had formed on the road-side around us. Quickly someone telephoned the ambulance and cops from the nearby police station. In about 15 minutes, the lady slowly started coming to her senses and could respond to some of the questions. Though unable to give emergency contact details, to everyone's horror she indicated that a known person had inflicted the wounds and thrown her onto the road.
As we were wondering what to do, a cop arrived. Enquiring us about the sequence of events, he tried getting the wherabouts and contact details from the lady. Though she wasn't fully conscious, she answered and provided some details. To add to the complication, the lady appeared to be in an inebriated state. With an ambulance on the way and the cop assuming control, the crowd slowly dispersed. Unsure, we hesitatingly left the place hoping the lady gets the needed attention and meets her loved ones.
What an unusal night my ordinary day had turned into? Thanking my senses on avoiding the collission and for pulling over, I drove on to get back home.
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