A one-and-half-year-old toddler died after she slipped through the hands of her grandfather and fell down the side of an escalator at the Srirampura Metro station in Bengaluru on the night of Sunday, 27 January.
Hasini had sustained serious head injuries and was rushed to KC General Hospital following the incident. She was later transferred to Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. She was confirmed dead on Monday morning.
The toddler was being carried by Balakrishna (52), her grandfather and was accompanied by grandmother Kumari and mother Vani. Balakrishna lost his balance on the escalator, and the child slipped from his hands.
Case of Negligence Registered
Meanwhile, police officials at Subramanya Nagar police station are investigating the incident. A case has been filed against the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) by the police under section 304 (A) of the IPC – causing death by negligence.
Police officials had rushed to the spot when the incident came to light on Sunday night and are now taking statements from officials at Srirampura Metro station regarding the sequence of events that led to the tragic incident.
Metro Station Lacked Safety Measures: Cops
Police said that there were no safety measures around the escalator to prevent the incident. "There was nothing stopping the fall of the baby for around 50 feet. The baby has fallen on the road and succumbed to death. We are investigating whether there was any negligence on the part of the Metro,” said a Subramanya Nagar police official.
They added that there was an empty space next to the escalator with nothing to break the fall of the baby for two floors. “The incident could have been avoided if there was a net spread out in that space," he added.
In 2007, a six-year-old child had died in the city’s Garuda Mall. Aahan Bhandari who had visited the mall to watch a movie with his parents had a free fall after he climbed the parapet grill of the fourth floor. Police had registered a FIR against the owner of the mall for not keeping necessary safety arrangements in place. It is after that incident, that Garuda Mall and many other shopping malls in the city started installing nets between floors to prevent injuries or break falls.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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