Cop apathy adds to family's miseries

CHANDIGARH: Often the poor innocents end up paying a huge price for the crime committed by others. The parents of five-year-old Anita can vouch for it.
On September 13, watchman Jairaj Singh's daughter was electrocuted when she came into contact with a high-tension wire running close to her house in Shahi Majra, Mohali. Doctors at PGI had to amputate her left hand and toes of left leg.Little did Singh know that his miseries had only begun.
Even though it was a fit case of registration of FIR under Section 338 (causing act endangering human life) of IPC, all Mohali police did was pay a visit to PGI, necessitated by the injury's medico-legal nature (CR No:420448).
"They asked me about the incident, took my signature on papers and after that I never saw them again," said Jairaj (28) while talking to TOI. As debts mounted on him, he took loan from almost everybody who offered. The man has little evidence, not even a police DDR copy, to prove the incident and claim damage.
Recalling the tragic incident, Jairaj said, Anita was playing on the roof when they suddenly heard her shriek. "We rushed upstairs only to find her lying motionless on the floor. We took her to the hospital where doctors had to amputate her hand and toes," he said with tears in his eyes.
"Anita is disabled for life. Our lives have changed forever. All I want is some help so that my family continues to live with dignity," says the man, who sounds almost incredulous when told that he has right to claim damage for the brutality inflicted upon his daughter due to negligence of others.
"Others" are either the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) officials or the house owner who might have done unauthorised construction, bringing the house close to the HT wire. Incidentally, the landlord has provided some financial assistance for treatment of the girl.
However, had Mohali police registered a case, their investigation could have identified the guilty and made things much easier for the victim's family.