Bengaluru: In a tragic accident that claimed the life of a 12 year old schoolboy, an autorickshaw carrying nine children overturned in Chikkaballapur on Saturday morning, underscoring the need for greater supervision of vehicles that are used to ferry children to and from schools. The driver was trying to avoid cannoning into a stray dog -- the other big menace in the city -- and lost control. The boy has been identified as Chandan, a seventh standard student of Mandikallu government higher primary school. Chandan sustained severe head injuries and was killed on the spot.
The other children who sustained injuries were admitted for treatment to the Gudibande and Chikkaballapura government hospitals. The accident took place at about 7.30 a.m. The auto-rickshaw driver was assigned to ferry a total of nine children from their residences to one school. High drama prevailed when the angry locals took to the streets and held a protest over the lackadaisical attitude
by the police and the failure of transport department to provide adequate measures to ferry children from village to school, said the police.
The Superintendent of police Chikkaballapur told Deccan Chronicle, "We have arrested the driver identified as 35-year-old Murthy. Police got the medical done. He wasn't drunk at the time of the incident. He was trying to avoid hitting a stray dog and lost control. A total of nine children were in the autorickshaw." According to the police, Murthy has sustained injuries to his hand and shoulder and was
undergoing treatment at a government hospital. The deceased Chandan was the only son of Venkataramanappa and Nagaveni, the couple who hailed from Mutakadahalli.
Chandan was staying with his grandmother and was studying in a nearby government school. The residents soon after the accident rushed to the spot and staged a protest demanding proper transport facility. The autorickshaw driver regularly picked up these children from in and around the villages and took them to Mandikallu School.
