New Delhi: 'Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai' actor Vaibhavi Upadhyaya died in a road accident in Himachal Pradesh on Monday. The actor, who got engaged to businessman Jay Gandhi, was on a road trip with her fiance in Himachal Pradesh when their car met with an accident. There were reports that Vaibhavi was not wearing a seat belt. Jay, who survived the accident with minor injuries, denied these reports and said that both of them were wearing seat belts.
In a conversation with ETimes, Jay said, “There is a notion that you speed on road trips, but that was not the case. Our car was standing still and waiting for the truck to pass. I am not in a state to talk much, but I wanted to ensure that don’t assume that we were not wearing seat belts or were speeding.”
Vaibhavi’s brother Ankit also spoke to ETimes and shared the details about the incident and how he got the news.
I got a call from the police in Himachal Pradesh. They said that my sister Vaibhavi had died in a road accident. I just couldn't believe it. I went numb.
I was told that a heavy vehicle had brushed her vehicle, that too at its rear when it had almost passed it cleanly, and her car toppled in a ditch (valley). My sister was thrown outside the car.”
He also shared that neither Jay was driving fast nor the reports of Vaibhavi not wearing seat belts are true.
“Jay and Vaibhavi's car was adjacent to a ditch, which was between two shops- when the truck coming from the opposite direction brushed it. Mind you, Jai was not driving fast. They were not drunk either. And let me tell you that Vaibhavi was wearing a seatbelt. The postmortem clearly revealed that there were marks on her body that indicated that the seatbelt had been worn. Her seatbelt must have apparently broken when the car toppled. Jai too was wearing his seatbelt. Vaibhavi was hurt in the ribs and her lungs and liver ruptured,” he told ETimes.
Talking about their parents, Ankit shared that they were in Australia at the time, and were not made aware of her death until they reached Mumbai.
“I didn't know what to do when I got the call from the police. I didn't know what to tell Mom and Dad. I just called up my aunt in Australia and told her about this. We decided not to tell them that the accident had been fatal. They were simply told that Vaibhavi had met with an accident and got injured. It was only when they reached Mumbai and were headed home that we told them what exactly had happened,” he told ETimes.