A Canada Post driver has been fined and banned after his truck hit and killed a nursing student in Richmond, while she crossed the road on a green light.
Rajwinder Goraya, who won’t have a criminal record, was charged under the provincial Motor Vehicle Act for driving without due care and attention on Garden City Road and Sea Island Way on Dec. 27, 2017.
Goraya pleaded guilty at Richmond Provincial Court and was given a $1,300 fine and a three-month driving prohibition for his part in the death of 27-year-old Esthersita Achari.
The nursing student from India was just a few metres from her home when she struck by Goraya’s truck at around 2 p.m.
Last week, family members of Achari expressed their outrage at the sentence to CTV, adding that they couldn’t believe it wasn’t a criminal offence.
The family are reportedly suing Goraya and Canada Post through the civil courts.
A few weeks after her death, the Richmond News reported how her friends and family were raising money to send her body back to India.
According to the GoFundMe page set up at the time by her cousin, Shathesh Kuhendrarajah, Achari came to Canada in “hopes of fulfilling her family's dreams.”
“She was a nurse back home at Hiranandani Hospital in Mumbai, India. She had been going to school for over a year to get her nursing license in Canada,” wrote Kuhendrarajah at the time.
“She was in her final stages of exams to obtain her Canadian RN license. Her parents had sold their family home to send Esther to Canada.”
Richmond RCMP said at the time that neither speed nor alcohol were being considered as part of the investigation into the fatal collision.
