Bengaluru boy, hospitalised for coming in contact with live wire, loses battle
Bengaluru: The 13-year-old boy, Abdul Razak, who came in contact with an 11-KV electrical line hanging dangerously low at a residential locality while playing cricket on Sunday, died early Wednesday morning.
Razak, who had sustained 50 per cent burns, stopped responding to treatment around 2.30 am. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit at the Burns Ward in Victoria Hospital since Sunday night. Razaq had climbed the railings of a first floor building to pick up the cricket ball that had gone on to a sunshade when his head came in contact with the high-tension wire.
“Razak’s burnt hair is still seen stuck to the wire. There were blood stains on the ground. The cricket ball is still lying there on the sunshade, and so was a stick that he used to pull it down,” a resident of the building, Nagaraj V.A., said pointing to the spot.
The postmortem was conducted at Victoria Hospital and later the body was taken to his house on 3rd Cross, L.B. Shastri Nagar. The body was buried at the Marthahalli Eidgah Grounds on Wednesday evening.
Electrical lines hanging dangerously low is a common sight over a stretch of 2 to 3 kilometres across L.B. Shastri Nagar, Ramesh Nagar, Annasandraplaya and Islampura. “I came to this area 17 years ago, and since then, these 11-KV line has been hanging low. I saw buildings coming up from down, left and right, some of them as close as one feet from the wire,” said Nagaraj V.A., a real estate agent.
“Who grants the permission and who approves the plan for such buildings in the BBMP? I wonder how the labourers managed to build these buildings working so close to the live wire. It’s very dangerous, especially for children as no one can keep a watch on them all the time,” said Mr Nagaraj.
The Bescom authorities termed the area slum. “There was a proposal to take the overhead electrical line, underground. A joint inspection was carried out by the BBMP and Bescom two years ago, and it was decided that the two authorities would split the cost of the project. But the project was given up as the BBMP did not pay its share of the cost,” said Ms Sheila Gurumurthy, General Manager for Quality, Safety & Standards, Bescom.
“This incident should be a lesson for others who build buildings close to power lines. At least they could have consulted us before going ahead with the construction,” said Mr Vishwanath Naik, South East Division Superintendent Engineer.
Razak was brilliant in studies, sports
Abdul Razak’s class teacher Bindu Raj of the New Oxford English School in L.B. Shastri Nagar broke down before hundreds of students when she called out the first roll number of class VII-A, Abdul Razak, while she was taking the attendance at the assembly in the morning on Wednesday.
Razak’s parents had informed the school about the boy’s death earlier in the morning. “His is the first name in the register. When his class teacher Bindu opened it to call out the names, she burst into tears and couldn't continue. She left without taking the attendance for the day,” said Neelufar, Secretary, New Oxford English School.
The school remembers him as a rank student, who was bright in extracurricular and sports activities too. “Abdul Razak was bright and was known as one of the best students by all the teachers who took classes for him. He was recently appreciated for a science project. He had also bagged many prizes in the cultural and sport competitions which were awarded to him on the school's annual celebration on February 15,” said Neelufar.
“Razak usually secured first or second rank in all exams. He had collected his prize for elocution earlier and was yet to collect his prizes for essay and drawing competitions and Hindi elocution,” his principal said. “We had a prayer for the boy in the morning. We also advised students on how to stay away from dangerously hanging electrical live wires, which is a common sight in L.B. Shastri Nagar, Allasandra Main Road, Ramesh Nagar, Islampura and the neighbouring areas,” said Aslam Khan, chairman of the school.
