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Is Salman Khan doomed? Tell us what you think!
Abdullah Shaikh and Mohammed Muslim, the two men who were seriously injured when Salman Khan's Landcruiser ran over them on Saturday morning, are not keen to pursue a case against the actor.
One person, Noor Ullah Khan, was killed when the actor, who was allegedly at the steering wheel, lost control of the car and rammed into some pavement dwellers outside the American Express Bakery in Bandra, northwest Mumbai.
"Salman Khan got away by paying Rs 950 as bail when he killed a person. Do you expect anything to happen to him if I file a case for compensation?" asks Shaikh from his hospital bed at the Bhabha Hospital.
No one from the Khan family has bothered to visit these men.
Muslim has suffered a fractured shaft on the left femur [thigh bone] while Shaikh has an oblique fracture of the tibia and fibula [shin bones] of the right leg.
The hospital, which is managed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, bore the cost of the operations.
"We have a fund in the hospital called poor man's kitty. We take out money from that fund to finance such operations," a senior doctor said, on condition of anonymity.
Muslim's father has arrived in Mumbai to see his son. No one from Abdullah's family has turned up because one of his Mumbai-based uncles is looking after him.
Muslim had come to Mumbai from Gonda two months ago to work and send some money to his parents. Abdullah, who hails from the same area, came nearly ten months ago in order to support his wife and two children.
"I am a poor man and I have no money to eat. How can I bear the legal expenses?" asks Muslim.
"Salman is a rich man and he can get away... I just hope I get normal and start earning for my family," adds Abdullah.
The two victims are worried if they will be able to work in the bakery again. They are also concerned about post-operative expenses.
"We have been told we have to eat medicines regularly for one year. I don't know if I will be able to buy medicines when I am discharged from here," Muslim says.
Are they not angry? "Will I get anything if I get angry?" asks Abdullah. "The reality is there is no justice for the poor. If I had done the same thing, I would have been languishing in jail for life. The police would have questioned and harassed me. But Salman was out on bail in just two hours."
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