MUMBAI: Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini has provoked fresh outrage with tweets this morning blaming the father of the child who was killed in an accident last week in Rajasthan involving her Mercedes car.

She said the father, who is still in hospital recovering from his injuries, should have followed traffic rules.

“How I wish the girl’s father had followed the traffic rules — then this accident could have been averted and the lil one’s life safe,” tweeted the 66-year-old.

“My heart goes out to the child who unnecessarily lost her life and the family members who have been injured in the accident,” she added.

This prompted B.K. Gupta, uncle of Shikha Khandelwal, the mother of the child, to question Malini. Gupta said: “Why is Hema Malini after almost six days raising this topic? We don’t understand. Where was she for all these days? The accident happened on July 2. Why again this issue is being raised?”

He also slammed Malini’s claim that the accident between her speeding Mercedes and the family’s car occurred due to negligence on the father’s part. “The car had given indicator and then turned. Our family members were driving correctly,” Gupta said. Four others, including Khandelwal, in the other car were injured. Gupta said the actress was backtracking from her earlier statement.

Amid angry posts on social media, her daughter Esha Deol said last week that Ms Malini would provide financial aid to the Khandelwals. But the family said today they had not received anything.

Malini’s driver Mahesh Thakur was arrested on July 3 on charges on causing death by negligence and overspeeding. He was later released on bail.