BENGALURU: A discreet outing plan, dodging parents’ calls, and a sudden end in a pre-dawn crash. Grief-stricken families of the six deceased boys followed a familiar script of keeping strict vigil on their children and checking on them every now and then through the night so that the kids are preparing for approaching exams. What they were not prepared to receive were phone calls from police with the most tragic and shocking one-line news: “Please come and identify your child’s body.”Around 11am Friday, grieving parents gathered at MVJ Hospital, near Hoskote, in shock and disbelief, refusing to accept the harsh reality that their sons were killed in the XUV crash hours earlier. For most families, the call from police shook them. The families had thought their children were in their rooms at home. It was only when the parents walked into their children’s rooms they realised something was amiss: beds were empty, phones unanswered. Their planned late-night joyride had been kept a secret from their parents. Four families TOI spoke to said they had no clue their sons had slipped out before dawn.
Bharath’s family had vague inkling, though: one of his elder sisters recalled he had casually mentioned something about stepping out after 5am to eat Hoskote biryani at a shop. He left much earlier than expected, without informing anyone. Their father was out of station for work when the accident occurred, leaving the sisters to confront the loss alone for a while. “He was like my baby,” one sister said, breaking down.Also read: ‘Teen driving at 160 kmph’: How speeding SUV triggered chain collision on BengaluruAccording to police sources, Ashvin Nayar’s mother knew of the plan and had asked him not to go. She checked on him three times during the night. The third time, however, he was not found at home. She called him, but there was no response. Hours later, she received a call from police, asking her to identify her son’s body. Ashvin’s autopsy was delayed as his father, who works in Mumbai, had to return to Bengaluru.Ayan, whose father’s car was involved in the crash, had followed a routine that gave no hint of the night ahead. Sources said his mother made him sit down and complete studies. Both went to sleep. Some time later, Ayan is believed to have taken the keys and driven out in the new car, purchased barely six months ago. A neighbour said, “Ayan knew how to drive, but his parents wouldn’t even allow him to sit in the driver’s seat.“When Mohammed Farhan Shaik’s mother noticed he was not in bed, she called him. “He told me he would be back in 10 minutes. So I kept quiet.” She waited and waited. And the call she never imagined came at 11am — from police.
