How speeding Merc shattered the 'happy family' dream of a migrant worker

The driver of the speeding vehicle, a Benz, was seriously injured and admitted to a hospital

Reaching Bengaluru from the distant Assam a decade ago, 35-year-old Harinath dreamt of starting his own business and settling down in the city.

He nurtured the dream through the hard times when he was a mere helper at many business establishments, but little did he realise that his life would end when a Mercedes-Benz mowed him down on 80 Feet Road in Indiranagar on Tuesday. Co-workers at the restaurant where Harinath was a valet parking assistant said he was gone before they realised what was happening.

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"We were mute witness to (the accident) happening in front of us,” said a colleague. “He was asked to park a customer’s vehicle when the speeding Mercedes-Benz hit him. We rushed him to the hospital, but he succumbed to the injuries on the way.”

Harinath lived in Halasuru and had married 30-year-old beautician Smritee Mohanta nearly seven years ago. His family said the couple was planning to have a kid. "He was running a water supply business before the pandemic and helped his wife set up her own beauty parlour. Though the pandemic affected them severely, they bounced back, and things were returning to normal. The couple even had dreams of parenting. But fate snatched him from us,” said a relative of Harinath.

Another of his colleague described Harinath as hard-working and regular to work. "The couple was happy and was leading a peaceful life. In fact, he was in a great mood today. All of us planned to go for lunch together just a few hours before the accident," the colleague said.

Sources close to Harinath’s family told DH that his last rites would be performed in Bengaluru.

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