n a gory incident, a toddler slipped from his mother’s arm and fell into a cauldron of boiling oil outside a sweetmeat shop at Trilokpuri in East Delhi on Tuesday. The woman, Pinki, was thrown off balance after being hit by an e-rickshaw from behind.
The victim, Dev, was first taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, but as it does not have a burns ward, he was referred to Safdarjung Hospital. But he was declared brought dead at Safdarjung Hospital.
Accused on the run
The police have registered a case of causing death by negligence as well as hit-and-run against the e-rickshaw driver at the Mayur Vihar Phase-I police station. The driver has been identified. The sweetmeat shop owner is also on the run.
According to the police, the road where the incident took place is wide enough for vehicles to pass by, but on Tuesday it was too crowded and congested as temporary shops had been set up on both sides of the road because of Eid. The victim’s, however, alleged that the person driving the e-rickshaw was drunk. “How else would someone hit a woman on such a wide road?” asked the boy’s father Chhatar Singh.
Protest
The family members and neighbours of the victim staged a protest outside the Mayur Vihar Phase police station. They refused to cremate the child – whose body they carried along with them – till action was taken against the e-rickshaw driver and the sweetmeat shop owner. The protesters also blocked the road in front of the police station.
