Geeta Sachan, the woman accused of causing a fatal road accident in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, has claimed that panic led her to press the accelerator instead of the brake, resulting in her car hitting a scooter and subsequently crashing into nearby properties. Denying allegations of driving under the influence of any intoxicating substance at the time of the accident, Sachan said the vehicle was not travelling at a high speed when the incident occurred.

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Explaining the sequence of events, she said, "The road is full of potholes—we usually avoid taking that route. I was driving when, seeing someone approaching from the left, I panicked and swerved to the right. As I swerved, there were two women travelling in that direction. I swerved back to the left to avoid them, but by then, they (the victim) hadn’t managed to move out of the way... In panic, I pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. My car hit the scooter and then went on to collide with something else... I was not under any influence... If I had been going at a high speed, the airbags would have deployed—but they didn’t, because the car wasn’t moving fast..."

The accident claimed the life of 55-year-old Santosh Singh Chauhan, a Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent who was returning home after purchasing a saree for his wife Sunita ahead of Diwali.

Fatal accident near Kalyanpur

Chauhan, a resident of Swaraj Nagar in Panki, was riding his scooter at around 8 pm when a Mahindra Thar hit him near Gayatri Palace in the Awas Vikas-3 area of Kalyanpur. He was reportedly just 500 metres from his home when the collision occurred.

According to eyewitness accounts, the SUV was travelling at an estimated 100 kmph. The impact threw Chauhan into the air, and both he and his scooter were dragged beneath the vehicle for nearly 20 metres. The Thar subsequently broke through a garden wall outside Professor Kailash Chandra's residence before crashing into the boundary wall of a property belonging to GST Superintendent Anita Mahadevan.

Arrest and subsequent release

Witnesses alleged that two women and a man travelling in the SUV left the scene in another vehicle. They also claimed that the occupants appeared intoxicated and that people in the getaway car threatened locals by claiming political connections.

Police seized the SUV, which carried Kisan Union and Krishna Group labels, and recovered two helmets from the scene. Sachan was arrested following the accident but was released by a court shortly afterwards. Police also initiated an investigation, including the collection of CCTV footage, while Chauhan's body was sent for a post-mortem examination.

Public reaction

The woman's release prompted criticism on social media, with several users questioning the circumstances surrounding the court's decision and demanding justice for Chauhan's family.

He is survived by his wife Sunita, son Rahul, an engineer who identified his father's body, and daughter Sakshi, who works for a multinational company in Bengaluru.