Gurgaon: Day after boy came under school van, family struggles to make sense of the loss

As he sat on a bench at the mortuary on Tuesday morning, Gulshan Singh recalled his son’s last words as he was undergoing treatment at a hospital on Monday. “He kept saying he is fine. I did not know I would lose him at the time,” he said.

On Monday, four-year-old Sidharth died after coming under his school’s minibus while being dropped off near his house in the village of Shikohpur.

“Just two minutes of haste by the driver cost my son’s life. What was the hurry?” said Singh. As his son’s body was taken for post-mortem, he broke down twice. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through pictures of his son and showed them to a relative.

Singh claimed that just last week, his son had complained about the driver speeding while commuting to school. “I had thought of taking it up with the school authorities, but then school was closed for three days. I had enrolled him recently in LKG on April 5,” said Singh.

Relatives said that the family has been in shock since the incident. “His mother has not eaten anything. He had just started going to school and was excited to learn new things,” said his grandfather, Rishal Singh.

“Had an attendant or a conductor been present to help him get off the vehicle or if they had waited for a family member, my son would have been alive. The driver sped away immediately as he got down. No parent should have to go through this. Steps need to be taken to ensure an incident like this is not repeated,” said Gulshan Singh.

Rajender Singh, SHO, Kherki Daula, said, “An FIR was registered against the bus driver and the school management under IPC sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 part 2 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). We have initiated a probe. The bus driver is absconding.”

In the FIR, Gulshan Singh states, “My son had gone to Little Dream World Pre School Kherki Daula in the school minibus (van) as per daily routine in the morning. Around 1.30 pm, when the van was dropping him off, no helper was present on the bus. The driver, being negligent, dropped my son and drove off immediately, and my son came under the vehicle. When we heard a loud shriek, we rushed out and saw that the driver had escaped while my son was lying on the ground. We rushed him to a hospital, where he succumbed to injuries during treatment. The incident took place due to the negligence of the school administration and driver. We had told the school authorities several times to get a helper in the van, but they did not listen to us.”

The school principal could not be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts.

Ravinder Yadav, district transport officer (DTO), said, “As per norms of Haryana Surakshit School Vahan Policy, all school buses/vehicles should have a conductor or an attendant and the attendant should be adequately trained to assist young children.”

Gurgaon DC Nishant Kumar Yadav said they have formed four teams headed by an SDM, which will conduct random inspections at schools to ensure that norms of Haryana Surakshit School Vahan Policy are followed. “The teams will include police officers and road safety officers and it will seek monthly reports from schools. We will also conduct a seminar with some private schools to educate them about the policy and take strict action if norms are not followed.”