An 11-year-old boy died of electrocution when he came in contact with a high tension wire while flying a kite in Vishweshwaraiah Layout in Chamundinagar in R.T. Nagar on January 16, Monday.
The victim, Abubakar, was flying the kite at a park close to a multi-storey residential building. The kite got entangled with a high tension wire near the building. The boy climbed on to the terrace of the building, and while getting the kite, he came in contact with the wire and collapsed with severe burns. Passers-by shifted him to Victoria hospital, where he succumbed the next day.
Abubakar is the youngest among three children. The complainant Sultana, a single parent and domestic help, filed a complaint against the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, and Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board officials accusing them of negligence leading to the boy’s death.
In her complaint, Sultana said the high tension lines are dangerously close to the building. The BBMP is culpable since it allowed the building to come up, and Bescom officials should also be booked for granting connection to the illegal structures, she alleged.
Based on the complaint, the R.T. Nagar police registered an FIR against the officials of KPTCL, BBMP, and Bescom, charging them for causing death due to negligence.
However, Bescom on Wednesday issued a clarification that the boy was severely injured after he came in contact with a 66 KW wire of KPTCL, and that negligence of Bescom was not the reason for the accident. KPTCL officials were not available for comment.
