Heartbreaking Twist: Child Who Begged to Join Outing Dies in Pune’s Navale Bridge Accident

Dhayari, 15th November 2025: A three-year-old’s innocent insistence turned into an unimaginable tragedy on Monday, when little Mokshita Hemkumar Reddy lost her life along with four others in the horrific Navale Bridge accident—just metres away from where some of them lived.

What makes the incident even more heart-wrenching is the chain of events that preceded it. Swati Navalkar, a resident of Dhayari Phata, had gathered her family at home to celebrate her daughter’s birthday. After the small celebration, she decided to take her parents to Narayanpur for a temple visit and hired a cab for the trip.

As the family prepared to leave, Mokshita—who had come with her parents for the birthday celebration—refused to return home. The lively three-year-old clung to Swati and insisted, with the stubborn sweetness only a child can, that she wanted to go to the temple as well. Everyone tried to distract her and convince her to stay back, but she wouldn’t budge. Believing it to be a harmless wish, her parents eventually agreed, planning to pick her up the next day.

That decision—made out of love for their child—now haunts a family shattered beyond words.

Among the victims were Swati Navalkar (35), her parents Shanta (54) and Dattatray Dabhade (58), three-year-old Mokshita, and cab driver Dhananjay Koli (30). Swati’s husband Santosh received the news late that night. Those close to him say he was devastated, as if the world had collapsed around him. Their young son is still too small to understand why his mother and grandparents will never return.

At the Reddy household in Chikhali, silence hangs heavy. Just a day earlier, the home was filled with the giggles of Mokshita, who loved dressing up and being the centre of attention. Today, there is disbelief, unanswered questions, and a grief too deep for words.

Neighbours in both Dhayari and Chikhali say the loss feels painfully personal—a reminder of how one moment on a dangerous stretch of road can tear families apart forever.