Beauty Parlor Employee Killed in Ghodbunder Highway Hit-and-Run

On the night of October 20, 2025, a tragic hit-and-run incident occurred on the Ghodbunder Highway in Thane, resulting in the death of a 40-year-old female beauty parlor employee. The victim, Swati Kadam, was returning home from work on a bike piloted by her employer, Manoj Thakur, when their vehicle was rear-ended near the under-construction Metro 4 line station at Vijay Garden.

The incident happened just minutes before midnight, as Kadam and Thakur were crossing the Vijay Garden stretch. The impact of the collision threw them off the bike and onto the road, with Kadam becoming trapped under the rear wheels of a suspected heavy vehicle, likely a truck. Kadam sustained serious head injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead.

Thakur, the owner of the parlor where Kadam worked, escaped with fractures to his limbs. According to initial police investigations, the heavy rush of festive clients at the parlor had led Kadam and other employees to work late on Sunday. Kadam had requested Thakur to drop her at her maternal home in Majiwada.

The police have booked the unidentified driver of the vehicle that caused the accident under relevant sections of the law and are investigating the incident further. Local residents have expressed concerns about the Ghodbunder Highway becoming a "death trap" for motorists, with the ongoing highway widening works being a potential contributing factor.