Five minutes after a mother had dropped off her eight-year-old daughter at school, the girl was electrocuted in Gangondanahalli on Tuesday morning.
The mother, separated from her husband a year ago, went to work, unaware of a snapped livewire claiming the life of her only child. She was also ignorant of the blame game that followed the incident. The school blamed the girl for tragedy — she had reached school early by an hour. The Bescom said birds sitting on electric wires had made it snap, causing the death.
Renuka, 30, dropped off her daughter Sunita, aka Yelamma, a Class III student at the Government Primary School at 8.25am.
She waited for her daughter to cross the road, and once the girl went inside, she left to the nearby house where she has been working as a maid. Five minutes later, she saw people rushing towards and school. On learning that a student had been electrocuted, she too joined them. Renuka learnt that it was her daughter who had met with the accident.
Meanwhile, residents had flagged down a two-wheeler to take the girl to a private hospital, where she was declared brought dead.
“Today I waited till she crossed the road safely and entered the school before leaving for work. I never expected that was the last time I saw her alive,” lamented Renuka.
The school authorities indirectly put the blame on the girl.
“The main gate was closed. The girl entered through another gate. So, it is not our mistake. The school starts only at 9.30 am, but the girl came by 8.30 am. We are not responsible,” said a teacher.
The mother had to attend work and hence left the girl at the school early.
The electric pole from which the wire had snapped was located inside the school, and lines were drawn over the school premises to supply power to houses behind the school.
Neighbours unanimously said that the Bescom had not checked the quality of the wires drawn at least 15 years ago. “The wire broke into three pieces after it had fallen on the ground, indicating its poor quality,” said Muneer, a neighbour.
Another man said the girl was with four other students when the mishap happened. “The wire had touched her calf. I used a wooden log to separate the wire. I took her up, and I requested several autorickshaw drivers to help me in taking her to hospital. None of them came forward. A man stopped his scooter, and I took her to the hospital,” said Bakshi, a painter.
Sunita had been staying with her mother in Muttara Bande slum after her father, Hanumanthappa, a construction worker, had left them. Her mother Renuka has been working in several homes as a domestic maid to eke out a living and also to educate the girl. Renuka, who had left her daughter at school in the morning, received the child’s body after a post-mortem examination in the afternoon.
