14-year-old boy who came in contact with live wire dies

Bengaluru: A 14-year-old boy died four days after he came in contact with a high-tension electric wire passing through the terrace of a building at Mathikere near Netaji Circle.

The deceased is identified as Nikhil, son of Amaresh and Ramadevi. Nikhil was undergoing treatment at Victoria Hospital since May 16 for nearly 50 percent burns.

It is gatherd that on May 16 Nikhil was playing cricket along with his friends near Netaji Circle in Mathikere. Nikhil went climbed up a building to get the ball. When he climbed the terrace, he came in contact with the low lying high-tension electric wire and suffered burns. He was immediately rushed to Victoria Hospital, where he died after battling for life for four days.

Following the incident, Bescom authorities blamed the building owner for not following the guidelines and also released a press note stating that during the inspection, they found that the building owner had violated KPTCL norms on the minimum vertical clearance.

“Extra High Tension (66 kV) wire of KPTCL is passing over the building. The minimum vertical clearance of the 66kV line should be 4 metres from the top of the building as per KPTCL norms. In this case, the vertical clearance was not maintained during construction and building has been constructed in violation of norms. KPTCL has confirmed that they have issued a notice to the building owner,” the press note read.

Meanwhile, the Yeshwantpur police have registered a case against Bescom, KPTCL and the building owner, Neetha Jagannath, under IPC Sections 304 (culpable homicide) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) and are investigating the case.