Sweeper dies after being hit by bus during protest

A sanitation worker, Asha Sahane, 50, died after being run over by a bus during a protest outside the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation.

MUMBAI: A sanitation worker who was critically injured after being run over by a bus during a protest outside the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) headquarters on Tuesday died during treatment on Wednesday night.

Sweeper dies after being hit by bus during protest

Police said Asha Sahane, 50, a contractual sweeper with the civic body, suffered severe injuries after her foot got trapped under the wheel of a Mira-Bhayander Municipal Transport bus and she was dragged a few metres amid the commotion outside the MBMC office in Bhayander East.

Her son, Vikas Vinod Sahane, 25, received a call informing him about the accident. He rushed to the hospital and learnt that a bus had run over his mother’s leg during the protest.

According to police, sanitation workers affiliated with various unions had gathered at the MBMC headquarters while Mukesh Sarwan, vice-president of the State Sanitation Workers Commission, was visiting the civic office. The protest, held under the banner of the Shramajivi Sanghatana, was organised over pending workers’ demands.

Officials said security guards had stopped the protesting workers at the main entrance while talks were underway between union leaders and authorities inside the headquarters. During the chaos outside the gate, the bus allegedly ran over Sahane.

She was initially taken to a private hospital and later shifted to Orbit Hospital in Mira Road, where she died on Wednesday.

The Bhayander police have registered a case against the bus driver under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for causing death by negligence and rash driving.