Sengkang fatal accident: Mum expresses grief

To her, Nivya was a kind and loving child who never spoke ill of others. She was also a source of joy to everyone around her.

“Whenever she walked into a room, it was as though she lit up the entire space,” she said.

Girl run over by minibus while waiting for school bus

During an earlier hearing in February 2025, Station Inspector (SI) Jeff Tan, a Traffic Police (TP) investigation officer, told the court what happened on the day of the incident.

According to the domestic helper, Sivakumar Ilavarasi, she had taken Nivya downstairs that morning and asked the girl to wait near a gate while she crossed the road with her school bags.

She told Nivya that she would return to carry her across the road after putting down the bags.

The helper said she looked back while crossing the road and saw Nivya still standing where she had been told to wait.

However, when she placed the bags down and looked back a second time, the girl was no longer there.

After looking around, the helper was horrified to find Nivya lying face down on the ground, covered in blood.

She ran to the girl and cried for help while cradling her. Two residents who heard the commotion quickly called the police.

Bus driver said he did not see girl

Nivya’s father, Rameshwar Khirodhar, heard the screams and rushed downstairs to check on his daughter. Neela, who is a nurse, also hurried to the scene.

The school bus driver involved in the accident, 68-year-old Phua, testified that it was still dark at the time.

He said he had noticed the helper crossing the road and waited for her to make her way across before continuing to drive.

However, he told the court that he did not see Nivya.

The girl was rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7.32am that day. The cause of death was severe chest and abdominal trauma.

School bus was travelling at just over 10kmh

The condominium’s management had initially required school buses to pick up and drop off students at a common pickup point.

However, the arrangement was changed after parents complained that the designated point was too far away, forcing their children to wake up five to 10 minutes earlier.

The management subsequently allowed school buses to enter the condominium’s internal roads to pick up and drop off students at individual blocks.

According to Shin Min, the school bus involved in the accident was travelling at just over 10kmh at the time.

Investigations found that the driver was not using his mobile phone when the accident occurred, and there were no records of incoming calls or messages at the time.

The investigating officer said the driver was not subjected to a breathalyser test as there was no indication that he had consumed alcohol before driving.

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