Seven-year-old boy playing in Bengaluru park dies after electrocution

BENGALURU: A seven-year-old boy was electrocuted after he accidentally came in contact with an electrical wire at Rajkumar Park, maintained by BBMP, in Kammanahalli on Sunday. The boy’s older brother miraculously escaped electrocution while trying to rescue him. Locals staged protest at Kullappa Circle in the area following the incident. Banasawadi police have registered a case of negligence and issued notices to BDA, BBMP and BESCOM officials. 

The victim Uday N was studying in Class 2 in a private school. The family lives in Grape Garden near the park. The father Nagaraj works as a daily wager while the mother Gowramma is a domestic help. In a statement, BESCOM said renovation work is being taken up in the park by a private agency which had unauthorisedly drawn power for welding by skinning an insulated wire from a streetlight.

After the work was completed, the wire was not re-insulated. The boy came in contact with the live portion of the wire and got electrocuted. The BESCOM executive engineer concerned has been asked to take legal action against the agency, it said.  

Family moved to city in 2009

Police said the incident occurred around 5.45 pm on Sunday when Uday, along with three of friends and his older brother, had gone to the park to play. The park is being renovated and the uninsulated wire was lying on the ground. Uday stepped on it while running and was electrocuted. His friends alerted some locals who rushed him to a hospital nearby where he was declared brought dead.

The boy’s parents rushed to the hospital after coming to know about the incident and accused the park maintenance staff of negligence. The father Nagaraj lodged a complaint with Banasawadi police and further investigations are on.The postmortem of the body was conducted at Dr B R Amedkar hospital on Monday and the last rites were conducted by the family at Mulbagal in Kolar district. The family had moved to the city in 2009 and was staying in a rented house.

‘Ambulance didn’t turn up’

Speaking to The Newn Indian Express, Veerabadrappa, an uncle of Uday, said, “When the boy was electrocuted, passersby called for an ambulance, but it did not turn up at all. Gangappa, a street vendor, ran to a super-speciality hospital carrying the injured boy for about half km. Autorickshaw drivers too did not come to help when the locals called for help.”

I tried to lift him, felt a shock too: Victim's brother

“I was standing outside the park when my brother Uday, Harish and Dhanush went inside to play. It was around 6pm, when I heard Harish screaming and calling me, saying that Uday was electrocuted and had fallen. I rushed in and tried to lift Uday, and felt a shock. I immediately jumped away. Then I ran out of the park and alerted a passerby who came and took my brother to hospital,” said Abhilash, who is two years older than Uday.

“We both left home with the other boys to play in the park since it was very hot inside the house. I was standing outside as some other friends were supposed to join us. Since it was evening, the wire was not noticeable and Uday stepped on it while running around,” said a traumatised Abhilash. “He was very jolly and I really miss him.”