Two minor cousins died of suffocation in a locked car

NEW DELHI: In a case of major negligence, a family suffered a double tragedy when two minor cousins died of suffocation in a locked car in west Delhi’s Ranhola on Tuesday. Incident took place after the car owner locked the car without noticing that two kids have been trapped inside the car. Delhi police has filed a case against the car owner.

According to the police, the car owner, Raju, had left the vehicle unlocked when his son, 4, and his nephew, 6, sneaked in to play. Raju, a cab driver, later realised that the car was unlocked. “He came back and without noticing the kids, he remote-locked it with his keys from inside his house.

Sometime later, the family in Das Garden locality started searching for the kids and called the police. “It was first suspected they had been kidnapped. One of the family members spotted one child lying inside the car and raised an alarm. The car was then unlocked and the duo was pulled out. Both were rushed to hospital where they were declared dead on arrival. “There were atleast half a dozen of family members when Raju locked the car but no one noticed the kids. Family members searched the kids everywhere but didn’t check the car. When they decided to report to the police a relative told them that kids have found inside the car,” police official said.

“A case of causing death due to negligence was registered and the bodies were sent for post-mortem examination. Primary medical examination suggested death due to suffocation,” a police officer said. “The bodies have sent to postmortem and action will be taken once the report will be out,” official added.

Last year in May, two kids, who got themselves locked inside a car, died of suffocation in Dighal village of Haryana’s Jhajjar. In 2015, two sisters, aged two and four, suffocated to death after they accidentally locked themselves inside a car in Haryana’s Kadarpur village.