Couple took a bike to avoid traffic, killed after truck hit them from behind, crushing and dragging them for 100 metres; 5-year-old daughter still doesn't know parents are dead

A Ghaziabad couple heading out for Rakshabandhan shopping on a motorcycle died on Sunday after a truck hit them from behind on NH-9 near Chhijarsi cut. The couple had reportedly chosen the bike instead of their car because they expected heavy festive traffic on the roads.

Ashish Anand, 36, a resident of Indirapuram, and his wife Neelam, 32, were travelling to a market around 11.15am when the truck crashed into their motorcycle. According to details reported by The Times of India, the impact trapped the motorcycle in the front portion of the truck, which dragged it for nearly 100 metres before stopping.

The crash killed both Ashish and Neelam. Passersby alerted the police after the accident, while the truck driver fled the scene and left the vehicle behind. Police later took the truck into custody and began searching for its driver and owner.

They chose the bike to avoid festive traffic

The couple had joined relatives for Rakshabandhan celebrations and planned to go shopping on Sunday morning. Neelam's brother Gaurav told TOI that Ashish expected the festive rush to cause traffic jams, so the couple decided to use his motorcycle instead of their car.

Ashish worked for a private company, while Neelam worked as a dietitian at a private hospital. The couple married in March 2019.

Their sudden deaths have left behind their five-year-old daughter, who is now staying with her maternal grandparents. The grandparents travelled from Meerut after learning about the crash.

The family has not yet told the child that both her parents have died.

"We still don't know how to tell the child that her parents are no more," Gaurav told TOI.

Family struggles to break the news to their daughter

The family now faces the difficult task of explaining the loss to the five-year-old. Relatives have gathered around the child while arrangements are made following the deaths.

Ashish himself had lost both his parents when he was young. His elder brother Ankur Sharma and other relatives raised him. Ankur, who works for a company in Taiwan, has received the news and plans to reach Ghaziabad within a day or two.

Police have started investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash. ACP (Indirapuram) Suryabali Maurya said officers sent both bodies for autopsy and took the truck into custody.

Police found that the truck had registration from Hoshiarpur in Punjab. Officers are also collecting CCTV footage from cameras near the crash site to reconstruct what happened and identify the driver.

Police will register a case after the family files a complaint and will continue efforts to trace the truck driver and establish the vehicle owner's role.

The accident has left the couple's young daughter without both parents, even as her family continues to decide how and when to tell her about their deaths.