Headlines
Hema Malini's driver arrested, family mourns girl's death
Jaipur, July 3
Veteran film actor and BJP MP
Hema Malini, injured in a car crash in Rajasthan that killed a girl
child, remained in hospital on Friday even as her driver was arrested
for rash driving.
Doctors at the Fortis Escorts Hospital said
Hema Malini, 66, was stable and on liquid diet after undergoing a
two-hour surgery here late Thursday following the accident near Dausa,
over 50 km from Jaipur.
Her apparently speeding sedan rammed into
another car coming from the opposite direction, leaving a two-year-old
child in that vehicle dead and four others injured, including the
parents of the dead girl.
Hema Malini -- one of Bollywood's best
known actors -- "is fine and conscious", said Prateem Tamboli of the
Fortis Hospital. "She is under our post operative intensive care unit."
Doctors
said earlier that may be discharged on Friday evening. But they told
IANS later that the actor-politician will remain warded till Saturday
morning.
Earlier, Hema Malini's car driver, Mahesh Thakur, was
arrested on charges of rash driving and causing death by negligence
besides other offences, police said.
"We have arrested the driver, a resident of Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh," a police officer at Dausa told IANS over phone.
At
the SMS Hospital in Jaipur, the distraught father of the girl who died
was inconsolable while the injured mother kept asking "Chinni kahan
hai?", not knowing that her daughter was dead.
The family was
even more hurt that neither the actor nor her aides bothered to ask
about their well-being though, they say, the accident was caused by her
speeding car.
The mother's uncle, who did not wish to be
identified by name, told IANS: "We have told the father, Hanuman
Khandelwal, of the death of the child in the accident. He was shocked
and has been crying since yesterday night. We try to console him but
fail to do so.
"But we have not told the mother as she is still in a bad condition after the accident," the relative said.
He said Hema Malini's car was speeding, and this caused the accident.
The condition of those injured in the other car was "normal", said a doctor at the government-run SMS Hospital.
Fortis
Hospital said Hema Malini, after being brought in around 9.35 p.m.,
underwent urgent detailed investigations, including X-Ray and CT scan.
"It was confirmed she had laceration in paranasal area and on the forehead near the right eyebrow," a hospital statement said.
"A
surgery of debridement and repair of lacerated wounds surgery was done
post midnight. The two-hour surgery was done under general anaesthesia."
Her
daughter Esha Deol and son-in-law Bharat Takhtani reached the hospital.
Her younger daughter Ahana, who gave birth to a boy in June, did not
visit her mother.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje called
on Hema Malini. Medical and Health Minister Rajendra Rathore visited
the other family and told the hospital to provide them free treatment.
Hema
Malini, who made her acting debut in “Sapno Ka Saudagar†(1968)
alongside Raj Kapoor, subsequently came to be known as Bollywood's
"Dream Girl" for her impeccable beauty.
From powerful roles in
"Seeta Aur Geeta†and “Sholay†to performances in movies like "Satte Pe
Satta" and "Baghban" -- Hema's acting career has spanned over four
decades.
She was nominated 11 times for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She won once in 1973 for her role in “Seeta Aur Geetaâ€.
Hema
Malini, also a Bharatanatyam dancer-choreographer, was presented with
the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2000. In the same
year she was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
In
between her political commitments, she still finds the time to act as
well as perform live. On the movie front, she will next be seen in
"Shimla Mirchi".
Married to veteran actor Dharmendra, a former MP, she has two daughters -- Esha and Ahana.