THE mother of a 20-year-old Tunapuna woman is claiming that an incident in which her daughter was knocked down by a car in Tunapuna on Carnival Monday was a deliberate act and not an accident.

Patricia Smith, mother of Shanika Smith, has lashed out at police reports that the incident was a regular road traffic accident.

She said Shanika, who remains warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope, and had her right leg amputated in order to save her life.

Smith said up to late yesterday the man who knocked down Shanika had gone into hiding.

"If this was an accident, why is he on the run?" she questioned.

According to Smith, the incident stemmed from a dispute between three girls who were her neighbours at Lashley Street, Tunapuna one year ago.

Around midday on Carnival Monday, she was in company with Shanika and other family members at a well-known bar in Tunapuna when the three girls confronted Shanika.

Later, while walking along Jubilee Street, Shanika was struck by a vehicle which was driven by a male suspect and in which the three girls were seated, it was claimed.

Shanika's cousin, Devon Smith, also sustained injuries after he too was struck by the car when he attempted to push her out of the vehicle's path, Smith claimed. The distraught mother added that there were several eyewitnesses to the incident and called on the police to do a thorough probe and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Smith said, "They crashed the car into my daughter, pinning her unto a wall at the corner of Jubilee and Green Streets, then they reversed the car and rolled over her again.

"I told the officer it could never be an accident because they came out of the vehicle, watched her in the drain, laughed at her and said they hope she dies.

"All this happened and we hear that the police said it was a simple accident."

Yesterday, Tunapuna police confirmed that officers of the Traffic Department are probing the incident, which is being treated as an accident.

She said her daughter's right leg was severely damaged and in order to save her life, doctors had to amputate it.