The charred body of a 25-year-old Indian-origin woman was found in the front passenger seat of a car in New York after the male driver left the scene in a cab following a crash.
Harleen Grewal burned to death on Friday after the luxury car driven by 23-year-old Saeed Ahmed slammed into a concrete barrier and caught fire, the police said. While Ms Grewal remained trapped in the burning car, Ahmed hailed a cab to take himself to a hospital, the reported.
Harleen’s charred body was found in the car after firefighters extinguished the flames.
While the car was still engulfed in flames, a man was filmed calmly taking a cab just meters away. The police said Ahmed was receiving medical treatment for burns to his arms and legs.
He was later arrested on charges of criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and speeding.
Ahmad had been allegedly driving in and out of the traffic on the expressway before his car hit the barrier, it said.
He admitted to having a few drinks before the crash but was not legally drunk when his blood was tested at the hospital, police said.
His brother Waheed claimed that Ahmed had tried to rescue Harleen.
"He said the girl that was in the car was stuck in there and he tried to get her out, that's why his arms were burned," Mr Waheed said.
The grieving boyfriend of Ms Grewal, who worked for a catering company, said she was a selfless person who always looked out for others. "She would do anything for people," her boyfriend Karan Singh Dhillon.
