Hurt cop’s wedding postponed

A COUPLE who were due to be married next Sunday have had to put their plans on hold after the groom was knocked down by a drunk driver.

Pranesh Panday, 25, a Pietermaritzburg traffic policeman, sustained serious head and spine injuries and a cracked hip on Monday while on duty on the N3 freeway at Cato Ridge.

His fiancée, Kajal Bhoopal, said he was in a stable condition in the Pietermaritzburg Medi-Clinic, but they had been forced to postpone their wedding until he recovered.

Provincial Transport Department spokesman Rajen Chinaboo said Panday was knocked down while removing tyre debris from the side of the road with his partner, Linda Liphiyane.

He said the driver of the vehicle was given a breathalyser test and found to be five times over the limit.

A 36-year-old man appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of reckless driving and attempted culpable homicide.

Bhoopal said she was distraught when she learnt the extent of Panday’s injuries.

“I just can’t believe that this has happened. It’s been so hard on all of us, especially his mother.

“He won’t be able to walk for five months and will be bedridden,” she said.

The couple have been dating for three years.

Their families have spent the past few days cancelling catering and décor services and notifying friends and relatives that the wedding has been put on hold.

“ It’s such a major setback, but I’m just glad that he is alive. That is the most important thing to me,” said Bhoopal.