A game of football on the grounds of Dr. Ambedkar
Government Arts College in Vyasarpadi proved fatal for a 13-year-old boy
after he stepped into a puddle of water to retrieve the ball and
suffered an electric shock. He died on the spot.
The
deceased, identified by MKB Nagar police as Samuel, a resident of the
nearby Annai Sathya Nagar, had gone to the college ground along with his
brother Baskar (10) and two other boys from the neighbourhood.
“As
the college was closed for the weekend, the boys scaled the compound
wall to enter the campus and began playing. During the game, the ball
fell into a puddle of water near a lamp post with wires exposed due to
the rains last night. Samuel ran into the water to get the ball and was
electrocuted,” said S. Sheikh Babu, Inspector of Police, MKB Nagar.
After
Samuel fell down, the other three boys ran to Samuel’s house and
informed his mother Shakuntala about the incident. She, along with some
residents of the locality, rushed to the spot. They informed the police
who reached the spot and sent the boy’s body for post-mortem examination
following preliminary investigations. Police personnel called TANGEDCO
officials to the spot who later disconnected power supply to the faulty
lamp post.
College authorities claimed that they had
alerted TANGEDCO officials to the faulty lamp post six months ago but no
action was taken. “We had also warned the children from the nearby
Annai Sathya Nagar against entering the campus due to fear of their
suffering an electric shock. Today, the carelessness of the authorities
has cost a life,” lamented a senior college staff.
Samuel’s
father Vijayakumar is a private security guard and mother Shakuntala
works as a domestic help. The boy was a student of class VIII at the
Government School in Vyasarpadi, police sources said.
Sourece : thehindu.com
