Ashwini Koshta was never going to be just the girl from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. She wanted to explore and live to her full potential. “Thoda aage badhne ki uski ichcha thi (She wanted to move ahead). She was very hardworking, and we used to support her. She told me that she would go to Pune and, then, move to Singapore,” says Suresh Kumar Koshta, her father.

Ashwini Koshta, 24, a software engineer, was travelling back from a late-night dinner party with her friends in Kalyani Nagar on the night of May 18-19, 2024, when the infamous Porsche incident took place. Ashwini Koshta was riding pillion on the motorbike of Aneesh Awadhiya, her friend and colleague, when a Porsche driven by a drunk minor boy hit them. Ashwini Koshta died immediately, and Awadhiya also perished in the accident.

Suresh Koshta is “disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to the father of the accused. The rest of the family of the minor is also out on bail. There is no certainty when the court case will begin.”

“According to me, a crime in which two people are killed by a speeding car being driven by a drunk person counts as a heinous crime. Hamari to beti chali gai (We have lost our daughter). Hum to mar mar ke do saal se ji rahe hai ki aaj ya kal humko nyaya milega (We are living each day for the last two years in the hope that we will get justice),” says Suresh Koshta. He wants a verdict that would provide a fitting closure to the horrific tragedy.

It has been two months since the Supreme Court instructed that the case be expedited, yet a trial has not begun. Suresh Koshta says that he has been waiting from the moment he lit his daughter’s pyre. He goes through the news of all hit-and-run cases. “There are a minimum of seven cases of road accidents reported in the Jabalpur newspapers every day,” he says.

The family has set up the Ashwini Kostha Memorial Foundation that provides food, clothes, and other essentials to underprivileged children. “I always asked Ashwini to work hard. I would tell her, ‘If you want to get ahead, mehnat karo’,” he says.

“She scored excellent marks in Class X and Class XII but had no time to celebrate. She was working towards the next milestone. I feel that I could not give anything to my daughter. Through the Foundation, we are giving things to impoverished children. Their blessings might ensure that she will have all happiness, peace, and prosperity in her next life,” adds Suresh Koshta. He is not the kind to seek funds for the Foundation, so he puts in an amount from his pension.

Suresh Koshta recalls that his daughter had promised that they would party the day he retired. She died a month before that. “When children get a job, parents feel a sense of freedom. Now, the children can earn, enjoy, and live as they please. The tragedy happened just as Ashwini reached that stage,” he says. The proud father adds that Ashwini Koshta wanted to set up her own business. He had, as always, encouraged her to put in her best and assured her that he would be behind her 100 per cent.