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Not one but two lives were snuffed out on Sunday due to exposed power cables leaking current into waterlogged lanes in the city.
Sohail, a 17-year-old boy, died of electrocution in Taimoor Nagar around 5 a.m. on Sunday, around the same time as the incident at the New Delhi railway station, where a 34-year-old woman suffered a fatal shock from an exposed power cable.
A senior police officer who visited the incident site in I.G. Camp, Phase 3, said, “Several exposed wires were found dangling from electric poles. The street was also found to be waterlogged. Prima facie, it appears that the victim stepped into a puddle through which current from the exposed wires was passing.”
A case under IPC Sections 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) has been lodged at the New Friends Colony police station.
Sohail’s uncle, Jamal Ahmad, a resident and the complainant in the case, told The Hindu that people in the area remain fearful during the monsoon.
“There is an open drain in the area that overflows every time it rains, forcing people to vacate their homes and stay out most nights. On Sunday morning also our street was waterlogged as it had rained overnight,” he said.
“My nephew had come to celebrate Id with me. He left the house around 5 a.m. to visit an uncle’s place. A few minutes later, when I also stepped out for morning prayers, I saw Sohail’s body in a puddle of water. There were several loose power cables near him,” Mr. Ahmad said.
No leakage, says discom
BSES Rajdhani, which supplies power to the area, in a statement, said, “Preliminary reports suggest that while attempting to navigate a waterlogged street, the deceased sought support from a channel, which was part of a resident’s premises.”
“Regrettably, the channel had leakage from internal wiring, leading to the fatal electrocution. Upon subsequent investigation, no leakage was found in the discom’s network,” the statement added.
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