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New Delhi: An eight-months-pregnant Indian-origin woman was killed after being struck during a two-vehicle collision in Sydney's Hornsby suburb on the evening of November 14. Her unborn child also died in the incident. The woman has been identified as 33-year-old Samanvitha Dhareshwar.
According to New South Wales Police, Dhareshwar was walking with her husband and their three-year-old son when the family attempted to cross George Street. A Kia had slowed to let them pass near the entrance of a car park when a white BMW allegedly rammed the Kia from behind, pushing it forward and hitting her.
Assistant Commissioner David Driver said Dhareshwar suffered fatal injuries due to the impact. "As a result of that collision, she's now deceased," he said. "It's a terrible, terrible story."
Dhareshwar was treated by paramedics before being taken to Westmead Hospital, where doctors could not save her or her unborn child.
The BMW was being driven by 19-year-old Aaron Papazoglu, while a 48-year-old man was at the wheel of the Kia. Neither driver was injured, though both underwent mandatory testing at Hornsby Hospital.
Papazoglu was arrested hours later at a home in Wahroonga and has been charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death, and causing the loss of a fetus under Zoe's Law, which allows harsher penalties for offences leading to the death of an unborn child. Magistrate Ray Plibersek, calling the incident "an absolutely tragic case", denied him bail.
Dhareshwar, an IT systems analyst working for Alsco Uniforms, had been expecting her second child within weeks. The crash has caused widespread grief within Sydney's Indian community, with tributes and flowers placed at the site.
