Mid-day

Mumbai, May 10: Around 6 pm on Monday, Aabid Hussain (13) took his father’s Scooty and set out to learn to ride it with his friend Kamaran Khan (14). But minutes after they took off, they were chased by two dogs near Cotton Green station. Aabid lost control of the scooter and rammed it into a parked truck.

Neither of the boys was wearing a helmet. Aabid died on the spot after sustaining injuries to his face, head and chest. Kamaran sustained injuries to his chest and fractured his right leg. Both boys were taken to KEM Hospital.

The boys, Std VII students at a Panchgani boarding school, were on vacation till June 4.

“I don’t know what they were doing and how the accident happened. When my son asked if he could take the Scooty to learn to ride it, I asked him to be careful. I trusted and gave him the bike, because his friend Kamaran knew to ride the Scooty,” said Zahid Shiekh, Aabid’s father.

“Both families are heartbroken. We wish they hadn’t taken the bike,” said Ahmid Khan, Kamaran’s cousin.

Kamaran is undergoing treatment at KEM Hospital. “I asked Aabid to be careful. We went to an empty road so that it would be safe. After he started the Scooty, two dogs started chasing us. He got scared and started speeding and lost control. We fell off after hitting a truck,” recounted Kamaran.

 “Under the Motor Vehicles Act, no one below 18 years of age can ride a bike or a scooter.  They should not have been allowed on it,” said an officer at Kalachowkie police station, where the case was registered.