A man who crushed a sleeping seven-year-old child to death under his truck. (Representational Image)
After 11 years, a Delhi court has upheld a six-month jail term awarded to a man who crushed a sleeping seven-year-old child to death under his rashly driven truck. District and Sessions Judge Asha Menon dismissed the appeal of UP native Ram Brijesh Yadav, who negligently drove his tempo and ran over the boy sleeping on a sewer drain in Kalu Sarai area of south Delhi in 2006. “A greater degree of care was also called for where children are involved and this was a sleeping child. The appellant (convict) did not take due care that was required by him. Thus, the prosecution has proved that it was his negligent act that resulted in the accident in which a small child lost his life,” the judge observed.
The court noted that the mechanical inspection report of the offending vehicle showing blood of the child on its tyres, has not been disputed. “With regard to rashness and negligence, this is one of those cases where the facts speak for themselves. A child was sleeping ahead of the Tata407. It was the negligence of the driver not to have looked for clearance before driving his vehicle. “The mechanical inspection report shows blood on the tyres of the vehicle, which has not been challenged by the accused/appellant,” it said.
A magisterial court had on July 15, 2015 awarded him six month jail term while holding him guilty of offences of rash driving and causing death by negligence under the IPC. In his appeal, the convict had claimed that he was falsely implicated by the police and sought leniency on the ground that he has to take care of his wife and four children.
The court, however, rejected the claims saying “the mere fact that he is a family man and has to take care of his four children, is not sufficient to outweigh the gravity of the offence. Possibly, the punishment could have been more than what has been awarded.” The court said the six month jail term for the offence calls for no reduction and directed that Yadav be taken into custody to serve his sentence.
According to the prosecution, on August 11, 2006 while the complainant and his wife were working at Kalu Sarai here, their son was sleeping on the roadside on a sewer drain. Suddenly, Yadav, who was working with them, drove a Tata407 in a rash or negligent manner and ran over the sleeping child killing him on the spot.
