A 31-year-old woman was crushed to death in Sultanpuri here on Tuesday when a girder slipped from the hook of a crane and fell on her at an underpass construction site.
An agitated crowd then beat up the erring driver and set the crane on fire before the police reached the spot. The driver later managed to free himself and fled the spot.
Taruna along with her father Vijay Kumar was crossing the railway tracks walking towards her in-laws’ house in Sultanpuri around 8-30 a.m. when the mishap took place. “Construction was underway for an underpass at the level crossing and a girder being lifted by a crane slipped and fell on Taruna. She sustained serious head injuries and was rushed to a private hospital in Rohini where she was declared brought dead,” said a senior police officer.
The locals were provoked by the tragic incident and beat up the driver. They also set the crane involved in the mishap on fire. The driver fled the spot.
“The construction was being carried out by a private contractor on behalf of the Indian Railways. The contractor has been identified as Banwari Lal of Hisar in Haryana. He is being contacted to reach to the driver,” said the officer.
Taruna’s body was later taken to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and handed over to the family after post-mortem.
A case has been registered under Section 287 (negligent conduct) and 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sultanpuri police station.
Taruna had recently shifted to Chandigarh with her husband Sanjeev and two children. Her parents live in Baljeet Nagar. She had come to Delhi two days ago to condole the death of her father-in-law.
