Family members of Nidhi, the woman who escaped unhurt in the Delhi hit-and-run case, have quietly locked themselves in their multi-storey home in Sultanpuri even as media persons patiently wait outside.
The role of Nidhi has come under massive scrutiny ever since it was revealed that she was riding pillion on Anjali’s scooter when it was hit by a car in the same locality on new year’s night.
Many people have criticised her for not rescuing Anjali when she got beneath the Baleno car and not informing anyone about the incident until she was spotted with Anjali in CCTV footage of the fateful night.
As criticism grew over her inaction, Nidhi’s family locked the doors of their home situated in an alleyway dominated by dangling overhead wires in the middle-class colony of C-block in Sultanpuri. They have avoided their outings and not received any visitors since media persons started camping outside their home.
Though people in the locality looked wary of speaking to the media about Nidhi’s involvement, a local resident told The New Indian that she had been staying in a separate accommodation in the same area for several months.
In her defence, Nidhi said that she got scared and could not muster the courage to inform Anjali’s family. Her statement was recorded by the police on Tuesday.
Speaking to media persons, Nidhi said that Anjali had consumed a lot of alcohol at a party organised at a hotel before the accident, a claim denied by the victim’s family.
“She had consumed a lot of alcohol (at the party). We even had a fight over who would drive the scooty. She was not at all in her senses. Before that accident, she was about to ram into a truck but I somehow managed to apply the brakes on time even as I was seated behind her… and we got saved,” Nidhi told media.
Nidhi has also alleged the occupants of the car did not pay heed to Anjali’s pleas for help. “She kept screaming but the car occupants continued to drag her and sped away. They might have felt something was stuck under the car and they reversed… again moved the car forward twice… and then drove away,” he had said.
The post-mortem examination conducted on Anjali’s body ruled out sexual assault on her.
Five people, who were in the Baleno car at the time of the accident, have been arrested by the police.