Hema tweets salt in dad’s wound

Janjivan Bureau
Jaipur: Somebody forgot to tell Hema Malini that her party’s policy – strictly adhered to by the Prime Minister among others – is when the going gets tough, the tough gag themselves.
Hema today tweeted that she “wished” the father of the four-year-old girl killed in last week’s collision with the car in which the actress-MP was travelling had “followed traffic rules”.
“My heart goes out to the child who unnecessarily lost her life and the family members who have been injured in the accident. How I wish the girl’s father had followed the traffic rules – thn this accident could have been averted & the lil one’s life safe!” tweeted Hema, the BJP MP from Mathura.
On what basis Hema levelled the allegation is not clear. Police had booked Mahesh Chand Thakur, who was driving the car in which Hema was travelling.
Police sources said tonight that investigations so far had not thrown up anything to blame Harsh Khandelwal, the father of Sonam who died when their Alto and the Mercedes Hema was riding collided on a highway in Rajasthan on July 2. Hema, 66, suffered a nasal fracture and gashes on her forehead.
Even if Hema has evidence that backs up her charge, she has not yet submitted it to the police or the court but has chosen to hurl the charge over Twitter.
Responding to the tweet, Harsh said: “I feel very sad that Hemaji, an MP, has such petty soch (thinking) when she tweeted that I was not following traffic rules.
“Eyewitnesses and the police have all said Hema Malini’s driver was going at a speed of 150-160km. I was at zero speed, waiting to take a turn. There were two cars, both waiting to take a turn. The first car crossed and then seeing nothing in sight, I followed him. Hema Malini’s car came like a storm and hit us.”
Harsh was speaking from the trauma unit of the state-run Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur, where he has been admitted with fractures in the leg and waist. His wife Shikha, their five-year-old son Somil and his sister-in-law Seema have also been hospitalised.
Shikha, who underwent a surgery for a fractured arm, was told about her daughter’s death only today.
Harsh, a businessman in his early thirties, termed Hema’s reaction “very disappointing”.
“She was whisked away to a (private) Jaipur hospital while we had to go to a Dausa (government) hospital initially. If she had taken my daughter with her, maybe she would be alive today. She (Hema) and her family members were here (in Jaipur) for three days. Nobody came to meet us from their side or offer condolences on the loss of my daughter,” Harsh said.
He added: “When Hema Malini was here, she could have said these things then too. But she has chosen to say these things in her defence now, sitting safely in Mumbai. Maybe her lawyers have advised her to do so. ”
Harsh, the family’s sole bread-winner who is likely to be laid up for three months according to doctors, said he had not received any financial assistance from Hema. Her daughter Esha Deol had promised help but Harsh said he hadn’t got anything yet. The treatment at the state-run hospital is free, though.
Hema’s tweet came days after allegations that she had not waited to help Sonam.
The MP lashed out at the media, too. “As for the sensation-hungry media & a few members of the public who had a field day maligning me even when I was helpless & in deep trauma…who actually & unbelievably stooped to the lowest levels of human decency, I can only say Shame on u & God Bless!”