Contractor shut the door on me, says wife of labourer who died of electrocution
Contractor shut the door on me, says wife of labourer who died of electrocution
New Delhi, “I knocked and pleaded, but no one came to help,” recalled an inconsolable Aarti whose husband Shivam, a labourer, died of electrocution at an under-construction house in southeast Delhi’s Khadda Colony.
The couple had moved to Delhi from Nagla Khemkaran in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj district after a family dispute. “They came here to start over. And now she’s been left with nothing,” said Sapna, a neighbour.
Shivam, who is survived by his wife, daughter and son , died around 3:30 pm on June 23 after he came in contact with a live wire while working at the site in Gali No. 10 of Jaitpur Extension Part-2.
Aarti, who also worked at the same site as a daily wage labourer, watched helplessly as her husband breathed his last before her eyes, while no one from the crowd of onlookers, who had gathered hearing her cries, or the contractor came forward to assist.
Shivam was carrying sand to the upper floor of the house. “He came into contact with a naked live wire. His body began to shake violently. I ran upstairs and hit his hand with a wooden stick to separate him from the wire,” she told PTI, narrating the traumatic events.
Aarti said she rushed to the contractor’s house next door, seeking help. “I knocked and pleaded, but he closed the door and didn’t respond for hours,” she said.
Though one man briefly helped her move the body, he fled midway out of fear. “Shivam’s body was found lying near a drain,” a local resident said.
Aarti said she had raised with the contractor the lack of safety measures, including exposed wires, but he did not pay heed. “We had just started working there. He seemed like a good man and we thought it would be a decent place to work,” she said.
Another resident said no one from the neighbourhood came forward to help Aarti though a crowd had gathered. “She was alone, no one stepped in. Many people also are saying that the contractor already had a few similar cases against him,” he claimed.
Shivam’s son has been inconsolable and hasn’t stopped crying. “He is asking for his father. He doesn’t know he is gone,” Sapna told PTI.
The contractor and the owner of the building fled the scene after the incident and have not been traced yet, police said. A case has been registered at Kalindi Kunj police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Locals said that after dropping Aarti home, the police did not return to follow up on the matter.
Kameshwar Bhakta, a resident trained in basic first aid, said the presence of a Basic Life Support team or CPR response could have saved Shivam.
"He didn’t have to die this way,” he said. “This was not just negligence, it was a criminal act. If needed, we will protest with the body outside the house of those responsible.”
Locals also claimed that the contractor had not been paying workers their wages on time.
A group of construction workers and locals gathered outside the contractor’s house, shouting slogans. “We build their mansions, sweating under the summer sun and working through the night. And they can’t even give us basic safety,” Sanju said.
Construction workers in Delhi are often migrants from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, seeking daily wage jobs to support their families.
Despite playing a key role in building the city’s infrastructure, many of them work under unsafe conditions with little to no protective gear. The lack of enforcement of safety norms at unregulated construction sites has remained a persistent concern.
Shivam’s body remains in the hospital mortuary. Sanju said Aarti’s father is expected to arrive in Delhi on June 25, after which the family plans to conduct the last rites.
“Aarti is completely alone now. They’ve taken everything from her," said Sapna.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
