In an accident in the wee hours of Saturday, a 45-year-old man died on the spot when a speeding Audi hit him on the OMR road, near SRP Tools in Chennai.
A 26-year-old woman, Aishwarya, daughter of Wilton Rulans, a top insurance surveyor, is believed to have been behind the wheel and was allegedly drunk when she lost control of the car and hit Munnasamy, a loadman, at around 4.30am on Saturday.
However, when Aishwarya did not stop the car, members of the public gave chase and managed to stop the car at some distance from the accident spot, they said.
Aishwarya and her two friends Soni Jain and Sushma, both residents of Ambattur, were on their way to Sholinganallur after attending a party.
Aishwarya who was under the influence of alcohol lost control of the vehicle. She has been sent to judicial custody and a case has been filed under Section 304 (2) of the Indian Penal Code, culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The woman driver, residents claim to The Hindu, tried to flee the scene after the accident, but was chased and caught by workers.
Munnasamy, who was crossing the road when the accident happened, is believed to have been flung into the air due to the impact. He died on the spot, the police said.
She has been remanded in judicial custody and the car has been impounded.
Meanwhile, Munnasamy’s body has been sent for post-mortem.
Aishwarya is an engineer from Chetpet, while Munnasamy lived near the SRP Tools with his wife and two children.
"The carpenter came out to work at 4 am. As a car was taking a U Turn, they didn't see him and hit him. There were three girls, who seemed completely drunk and despite us trying to stop the car, they continued to drive. We had to go behind them on a bike and stop. When we got them, they were in such a state they couldn't even respond," eyewitnesses said to Puthiya Thalaimurai.
Update: "It is a clear case of drunken driving, the results of the breath analysis have shown," the Commissioner of Police confirmed to TNM.
(With PTI inputs)