When death comes, it comes without warning! That was the rude shock the Albuquerque family from Vagator received when they learnt that their kin, Remedia Albuquerque, 57, had been brought dead to Asilo hospital after a freak accident late Saturday night.
Remedia was mowed down by an SUV which was driven by a drunken driver when she was standing and talking on the phone at the reception counter of her resort.
Anjuna Police Inspector Prashal Desai said Remedia suffered injuries on her leg and stomach after the sports utility vehicle driven by Sachin Venugopal Kurup struck her and smashed her against a pillar. She was declared brought dead to Asilo Hospital, he said.
Kurup, a resident of Pune in Maharashtra, who was allegedly drunk, is thought to have come to pick up a friend when in a drunken stupor he drove 50 to 60 metres inside the area of Maior Roma Resort and struck the woman. The reception of the resort, which is at the end of a slope, is close to the parking area.
Kurup, who was allegedly drunk, is thought to have come to pick up a friend when in a drunken stupor he drove 50 to 60 metres inside the area of Maior Roma Resort and struck the woman.
The Anjuna PI said the blood report to examine the alcohol content in Kurup’s body will be known in the next two to three days and right now “he is in police custody”.
The accident has once again brought to the fore drunken driving in the Anjuna-Vagator area. A delegation of residents from Vagator that came to the Anjuna Police Station on Sunday, November 12, at around 3.15 pm, directed their ire at the police for failing to keep in check tourists who drink and drive on the road in the late-night hours.
One of the delegation members said the insurance of the SUV had expired in August this year and sought to know what action the police will take in the matter against the owner of the vehicle.
Another delegation member said the police have no proper alcometers to check drunken driving and the only thing they were good at is penalising helmetless two-wheeler riders.
Another delegation member said the police have no proper alcometers to check drunken driving and the only thing they were good at is penalising helmetless two-wheeler riders.
A lady delegation member said tourists feel they can do anything when they are in Goa and that it is becoming unsafe to ride or drive at night because of their drunkenness, she said.
The Vagator accident is a stark reminder of the Banastarim collision in August this year when a drunken driver from an affluent family mowed down more than five hapless people resulting in the death of three while returning from a party.
Remedia will be laid to rest on Monday, November 13. The funeral cortege will leave her residence Jolly Jolly Leaster at 4 pm to St Anthony’s Church in Vagator for the farewell service and then to the cemetery for burial.
Remedia’s death came a few hours before Narkasuras were to be consigned to the flames to symbolise the triumph of good over evil and celebrate Diwali. Residents said her death should not go in vain and this evil of drunken driving has to be defeated at all costs.