Family’s ‘superstar is gone’
Tears at Queens funeral for young cab vic
Weeping family and friends remembered Sherena Hundalani as a bright and shining star gone dark too soon during a heartbreaking Wednesday funeral.
The 26-year-old victim was remembered by hundreds of mourners packed inside a Queens funeral home just three days after she was struck and killed by a cab near her Rego Park home — a freakish, fatal incident that remains under investigation.
“It’s a big tragedy,” said the victim’s devastated mother, Bina, speaking through tears. “We never imagined. My superstar. Our supporting star. The first star is gone.”
As Bina and husband Prakash Hundalani struggled to make sense of a bright life brought to an inexplicable end, their piercing cries of agony caused all in attendance to weep and sob.
“She used to sleep on my chest when she was a kid and Mom was trying to sleep. … I’d put her on my chest, I’d put her to sleep,” said the distraught dad. “She always used to say, ‘Papa, don’t worry. Don’t worry, I will be the one taking care of you.’ ”
Hundalani was fatally struck last Sunday by cabbie Lakhvinder Singh, 55, as he exited a Rego Park gas station. She was standing on the sidewalk about half mile from Queens home, and short time later at Elmhurst Hospital Center.
The hardworking young woman was a floor manager at Mamasita Bar & Grill in Hell’s Kitchen, the family business. Dozens of co-workers and patrons at the funeral extolled the virtues and work ethic of the vivacious Hundalani.
“She was very sweet,” said Marina Tirado, a longtime family friend and co-worker. “Extra sweet. She’s a very hard worker. She always supported the family. It’s very painful. “I don’t want to go see her in the way she is now. I just want to have memories of smiling and happiness.” Hundalani’s inconsolable roommate and younger ister Dinika, 23, ailed as mournsprinkled s lorful fresh wer petals her older er’s body. Always itive vibes,” lled another friend, Ellie ican, 27. “She al‘Positive aid, vibes . It breaks our hearts because she used to always talk about starting a family, and she was so dedicated to her own family. It’s really heartbreaking that won’t happen for her.” Hundalani was headed into Manhattan to meet with her mother when she was killed, according to her dad. “She always takes Sundays off,” said Prakash. “She wants to be with her family. She wants to be with Dinika, she wants to be with Ganesh — her boyfriend.”
Cabbie Singh drove away from the scene after plowing into Hundalani. After witnesses chased the driver down, with one yanking the keys from the cab’s ignition, he told cops that a mechanical failure was responsible for the fatal crash. A close family friend of the driver told the Daily News that the green cab’s brakes failed before the fatal collision, preventing the driver from stopping.
Singh’s Taxi & Limousine Commission license was immediately suspended pending the outcome of an ongoing probe and possible criminal charges linked to the crash. He has yet to be charged with anything in the incident.
Hundalani’s father, after the services at the Gerard J. Neufeld funeral home in Elmhurst, demanded answers in his daughter’s tragic death.
“She’s only 26 years old,” he said. “She hasn’t seen anything. … We don’t know how we will live without our daughter. I understand time heals everything, but this is too much. It’s not going to heal.”