Punjab: Nursery student crushed to death outside school

LUDHIANA: In a tragic incident, a three-year-old nursery student of Saraswati Morden School, Chandar Nagar in Punjab's Ludhiana died when a Ford Endeaver car crushed the toddler to death outside school campus.
At the time of the incident, the toddler was going towards the autorickshaw which ferries him home after school. The car first hit the toddler and he fell down following which the vehicle crushed him to death. The car driver also escaped from there while the onlookers rushed the boy to the hospital.
The deceased - identified as Vidhit Srivastva of Inderprast Colony of Haibowal - was a student of nursery class. The incident was also captured on CCTV installed near schools.
An eyewitness, Saurabh Kumar of Shivpuri, said, “I was crossing by the area on Tuesday afternoon when I saw the incident. A schoolboy was running towards the auto which was parked outside school when an Endeaver car hit the boy. When boy fell down the car crushed him.”
He added, “It seems that the car driver did not notice the toddler because of the height of the car. Moreover, the car was not speeding. Even after crushing boy, the car driver did not realise about the incident. When onlookers raised alarm, the accused car occupant sped up the car and escaped.”
A parent who had come to school to pick her son shared, “When the incident occurred, I noted down the car number.”
The auto driver told police that he parked his auto right outside the school. He held hands of two children to make them sit in the auto and meanwhile asked Vidhit to stay there and wait for him. However, Vidhit started running behind him and got crushed by the car.”
The driver added that the auto was parked outside school. However, the parents had parked their two-wheelers near the main entrance of the school due to which the toddler moved towards the road to reach near auto. I have asked school authorities several times to manage the vehicles of parents during the dispersal time, to no avail. There is one guard at the main entrance who was inside the campus.”
After the incident the auto driver picked the child and started running to take him to hospital. Meanwhile, an onlooker gave him lift to DMC Hospital. There the doctors declared him dead. Thereafter, the parents were called by school staff.
When parents reached the hospital, they asked the police to take action on school authority too.
Father Ravi Sirvastva, a factory worker, said, “I want to question the school authority how they allowed my son to go out alone. Why was there no school teacher, attendant or guard to help the children? I want action against the school authority.”
Inspector Jarnail Singh, SHO at police station Division number 8, said that the onlookers have noted down the number of car. The police are trying to trace the car occupant and a case is being registered under section of 304 -A (causing death by negligence) against the accused.
International road safety expert Kamaljit Soi said, "As per the guidelines of safe school vahan scheme, autos cannot ferry school children. Furthermore, according to guidelines, the children are supposed to be dropped and picked from inside the school campus. Even if the students have to be picked from outside the campus, it is the responsibility of school authority to ensure safety and security arrangements by deploying guards and attendants. The school authority is equally responsible for this tragic incident."