Minor girl, toddler come in contact with open power cable, suffer burns

PUNE: A girl (10) and a toddler suffered burns on Sunday after coming in contact with a live electricity cable jutting out at the site of an under-construction concrete road, prompting the Bharati Vidyapeeth police to register an offence against the contractor a day after.

The accident occurred on Sunday night when the girl, Tejasvi Jalindar Sule, of Holkarngar in Ambegaon Pathar stepped out of her home carrying her neighbour’s nine-month-old son, Shrihan Kolekar. Both of them suffered 20% burns and undergoing treatment in a private hospital.

“My daughter suffered burns on her legs and left hand. Shrihan suffered burns on his legs and back,” Tejasvi’s father, Jalidar Sule, told TOI.

Sule, a tempo driver in the Market Yard area, stays with his family at Holkarnagar in Ambegaon Pathar.

“For the past few months, the construction of the concrete road has been going on. The work has not been completed yet,” he said.

He said the contractor had dug up the road. “The electricity cables in our area have started jutting out. Some cables have been damaged, too,” he said.

One such cable was jutting out near the entrance of Sule’s house. “As it was risky, I had informed the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) about it. No one came to repair it despite three reminders,” Sule further said.

Shrihan, the son of Sule’s neighbour, had come to his house on Sunday night. “Around 9.30pm, my daughter stepped out to drop Shrihan at his house. When she started walking near the cable, there was a spark. My daughter and Shrihan suffered burns,” he said.

Assistant inspector of the Bharati Vidyapeeth police, A S Kale, said the police had registered the offence against the contractor under Section 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code. “The accident occurred because of the negligence of the contractor. It was his duty to properly cover the electricity cables jutting out of the ground during the road construction work,” Kale said.

He said no arrest had been made so far. “Our probe is on,” Kale said.


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