BANGALORE: A little girl visiting her grandparents was killed when a sharp chip of stone pierced her throat.
The chip flew off a slab being chiseled by workers to cover a drain.
Akshitha, 5, the only child of Ananth Gowda, a farmer from Shravanabelagola, had come to her maternal grandparents’ house on 4th Cross, Indiranagar Colony, Basaveshwaranagar, four days ago.
Rajeshwari, a neighbour, said she heard Akshitha’s grandmother telling her around 10.15am to come in as work was on outside.
Akshita didn’t heed her grandmother’s call to come indoors. “She stayed there, eating something. Suddenly, I saw her collapse and bleed from the throat. I ran towards her. Neighbours rushed her to a hospital in an autorickshaw,” said Rajeshwari.
By the time Akshita reached the Chord Road Hospital, she had died of excessive bleeding.
Ananth and his wife Pallavi can’t believe the turn of events. “We had dropped her in Bangalore only four days ago. We spoke to her on Wednesday. Then everything went wrong,” said Ananth. Police said they have registered a case under IPC’s Section 304-A (negligence leading to death) against the contractor and the local BBMP engineer , who accorded permission.
Dr K N Chandrashekar, additional commissioner, west, BBMP, had no explanation. “I am stuck with the election duty. My subordinates are looking into the case,” he said.
Rajajinagar MLA and minister S Suresh Kumar visited the parents of the girl.
“The BBMP commissioner must take steps against those responsible and compensation must be given . It is sad that some politicians are misguiding the public by saying that the work began after election was announced. In fact, the work order was issued on February 15 and work began the next day,” the minister said.
