Faridabad boy, 7, killed after water bottle-loaded e-rickshaw topples

The Class-III student was returning home with friends when his bicycle collided with the three-wheeler at a T-point near his Sector 31 home.

A seven-year-old boy was killed after an e-rickshaw loaded with water bottles toppled onto him while he was cycling with friends near his home in Faridabad’s Sector 31, police said on Monday. The boy, a resident of the same area, and a Class-III student at a private school in Faridabad, was due to celebrate his birthday on Tuesday.

The incident took place around 5.30pm on Saturday when the boy was returning home after cycling with his friends. Police said he reached a T-point near his residence and collided with the three-wheeler coming from the opposite direction.

Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said the e-rickshaw had partially climbed onto the porch of a house along the road, causing it to move in a tilted position. “The minor collision was enough to make it topple on the boy, who was instantly crushed beneath it. He sustained severe injuries to his head and chest,” he said.

Yadav said CCTV footage showed the bicycle colliding with the e-rickshaw. The driver tried to lift the vehicle immediately after the collision but failed as it was filled with water bottles.

Neighbours raised an alarm, following which the boy’s family rushed to the spot. At least six people lifted the overturned e-rickshaw and pulled the child out before taking him to a private hospital in Sector 19, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

The boy’s parents originally hailed from Fatehabad in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra but had settled in Faridabad several years ago.

Based on a complaint by the boy’s father, police registered an FIR against the driver under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 271 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Sector-31 police station on Sunday. The body was handed over to the family after autopsy.

Police said the driver initially remained at the spot but later fled. The e-rickshaw was seized, and efforts were underway to arrest him.