Refused to give lift and I feel bad

If not here, where else ? I was returning from work this afternoon and at around 3 PM somewhere near Yerwada, I stopped to check my phone. A man who appeared to be above 60 came and asked me to drop him at the junction ahead which is less than a kilometre. He physically appeared weak and someone who has not eaten properly for long. He also didn't appear to be very hygienic. You can see where I am getting to. I tried to evade him by saying I am going in a different direction but he was persistent. After a few minutes of refusal he went on his way. It was a warm afternoon with temperature in the mid 30s and I saw him walking in the sun and instantly felt bad. Later the regret faded. Now, coming back to why I refused. As you all would have guessed by now, the obvious is not the reason. During my school days, we were a group of 3, not necessarily friends, but we departed from the same point from govt buses to school. Many a times buses are overcrowded and we take lift from bikers who are passing along the way. One fine day, 3 of us were on different bikes and one had an accident. Cause is not known but there was no other vehicle involved. My school mate was injured in the face and jaw. I didn't witness the accident but was horrified on seeing the injuries. There was no way we could blame the biker who gave the lift. From that day, we decided that we never ask lift from unknown people. After I got my own license (legally) and started riding, I also NEVER gave lift to anyone unknown from the beginning. I don't want to carry someone else's life responsibility on me. I know this can sound far fetched but every minute is unpredictable on Indian roads. I always wear a helmet and insist anyone coming with me to wear one. Unfortunately in India, safety and precaution is the least priority for everyone. I have refused lift to so many people since I started riding (23 years, yeah boomer) to variety of people. Sometimes I feel bad after refusing to school kids. Then I recall my own incident and forget about it. During my school/college days there was some kind of a rumour spreading that people infected with HIV were drawing their blood into a syringe with needle and then injecting on someone else. They ask lift and do this from behind. They are upset and sadistic. Now, I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I hung on to my principle of not giving lift to strangers. I am a religious person but for the sake of being neutral, I hope the power above us can pardon me.