KATHMANDU: Early on Saturday morning, a car speeding southward from Shivapuri lost control as it crossed the Bishnumati bridge, hitting a pedestrian on the opposite side of the road near Budhanilkantha School, before crashing onto an electricity pylon. The pedestrian, Leela Devkota (38), who was severely injured, was pronounced dead upon preliminary examinations at the Bansbari based Upendra Devkota Memorial National Institute of Neurological and Allied Sciences. Devkota was walking towards the factory situated across the bridge where she worked when the car hit her. Prithvi Malla (21) was driving the car under influence. Malla and his friend Karish Maskey were detained by the police who arrived at the scene within a few minutes. Eyewitnesses say there were two other passengers, women, who fled the scene. However, the police refused to comment on the matter. Deceased Leela Devkota's last rites were performed at 3:00 pm on December 16. THT Online talked to Yadav Devkota, deceased Leela Devkota's brother-in-law, to learn how the family is coping up in the aftermath and what legal actions have been pursued. The family is naturally devastated, he said, 'We have filed a case against the driver responsible for this grave tragedy.' 'We now believe that law will take its course, that the state will ensure justice is done. We trust the state to do its job and won't resort to protests owing to that trust.' The Devkota family stands on the hope that the guilty don't go unpunished backed by legal loopholes or power and influence of perpetrators. 'My brother is a very simple person. He and my deceased sister-in-law were both employed in a pashmina factory and did manual labour. The family's stand is that it is the children's right to get compensation and the state's duty to punish the guilty,' Yadav Devkota shared. He also expressed his sentiments on Twitter: 'To drive and run a car on a pedestrian while under influence and that without a driver's licence is not an accident - it's a murder. The society must take this incident seriously given that there have been incidents of releasing murderers on bail in the past. There should be a constant vigil.' https://twitter.com/gaunkomanchhey/status/1207101037221302272?s=19 This tweet came in response to some social media posts which came in defence of Prithvi Malla calling this incident a 'mistake', asking people to stop talking about it further. Leela Devkota is survived by her husband and four children - three daughters and a son. Her husband and three children are currently in mourning while a daughter who is in Japan, was unable to bid her mother a final goodbye. READ ALSO:

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