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Surta Parmar, 38, was busy with her chores at her home at Dharti Mata village in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district when a thud and a commotion disrupted her daily routine on Tuesday. When she rushed out to see what the commotion was about, she was shocked. People had gathered near a pond, where a car had fallen, but were doing nothing to rescue its occupants.
Parmar took matters into her own hands as some onlookers filmed the car in the pond. She rescued a couple and their 11-month-old son from the car and helped rush them to a hospital that saved their lives.
The couple, Dharmesh Yadav and Shilpa, and their son, Drish, were on their way to Banswara from Dungarpur for a wedding when their car hit a divider, lost control, and plunged into the pond about 10 feet down, around 200 metres from Parmar’s home.
Parmar said when she came out of her house, she realised it was a horrible accident. “Shilpa and Dharmesh Yadav had fainted…I could hear the baby crying,” said Parmar.
Parmar waded into the water while her 15-year-old daughter, Ayushi, followed with ropes.She said the car was locked and the glasses were rolled up. She had to break the glass with a rod. Parmar said she first rescued Drish before dragging Dharmesh Yadav and Shilpa, stuck in the back seat, out of the car.
Parmar also found a pile of enumeration forms that Yadav, a Block Level Officer, was carrying in the car after a survey under the Special Intensive Review of the electoral roll. There was also a laptop and three mobile phones.
Drish and his parents were rushed to a local hospital, where the 11-month-old was discharged after treatment. The couple, who sustained multiple fractures and were operated upon, were referred to a Udaipur hospital, where they were out of danger.
Dinesh Yadav, Shilpa’s uncle, said none of the onlookers dared to step forward to save his niece, her husband, and their son. “Had not Surta Parmar been there, we would have lost my niece and her family,” said Dinesh Yadav.
Parmar said she spoke to Yadav on Wednesday. “Later, one of their family members came to my home to take the gadgets and the official papers.”
Parmar said her father abandoned them when she was a month old, and her mother lost her battle with cancer around 10 years later. “For me, saving the Yadavs was no bravery. What would that baby do without his parents? How could I have stopped myself even after hearing his cry?”

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