LUCKNOW: A 24-year-old woman who allegedly ran over and killed a 55-year-old LIC agent with her Mahindra Thar in Kanpur has claimed that she “panicked” during the incident and “pressed” the accelerator instead of the brake.Geeta Sachan, who was allegedly driving the SUV, said she swerved to avoid people on the road but lost control of the vehicle.She also claimed that she was not under the influence of alcohol or any other substance and that the car was not travelling at high speed.“The road is full of potholes—we usually avoid taking that route. I was driving when, seeing someone approaching from the left, I panicked and swerved to the right. As I swerved, there were two women travelling in that direction. I swerved back to the left to avoid them, but by then, they (the victim) hadn’t managed to move out of the way.”“In panic, I pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. My car hit them and then went on to collide with something else… I was not under any influence. If I had been going at a high speed, the airbags would have deployed—but they didn’t, because the car wasn’t moving fast,” Geeta said.The 24-year-old was granted bail last week after the incident, which took place on Saturday evening in the Awas Vikas 3 area of Kalyanpur.Geeta is pursuing her studies in Italy and returned home for Diwali.What happened on the day of the accidentThe victim, Santosh Singh Chauhan, was returning home after stepping out to buy a saree for his wife. He was barely 500 metres from his house when the SUV rammed into his scooter.The impact dragged Chauhan and his vehicle for around 20 metres before the Thar crashed into a green area outside a house.The SUV first struck the house of Professor Kailash before crashing into the boundary wall of Anita Mahevan’s house, residents said.Chauhan, a resident of Swaraj Nagar in Panki, was identified by his son, Rahul. He said his father had left home telling the family that he would be back shortly.What the accused’s lawyer saidSachan’s lawyer, Advocate Anant Kumar Sharma, maintained that the incident was an accident and that his client had no intention of causing anyone’s death.“The accused neither knew the deceased nor any of their relatives; and certainly, she had no intention whatsoever for anyone to die. Due to factors such as the presence of numerous potholes on the roads and the lack of street lighting, this incident occurred as an accident.”“The charges should have reflected the nature of an accident. The sections invoked by the police were incorrect; consequently, the remand application was rejected, and she was released upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and an undertaking,” Sharma said.He also urged people not to make inappropriate remarks about the court’s order, saying those who disagreed with it could pursue legal remedies.“I strongly urge the public to refrain from making inappropriate remarks about court orders. If individuals disagree with a verdict, legal avenues are available to them—such as filing a revision petition or an appeal,” he said.