E-rickshaw falls on dug-up road in Dwarka, crushes 3-year-old

One local resident named Barkat alleged that hundreds of metres along the road in Dwarka Sector 16B had been dug up around four months ago, leaving the stretch dangerous for motorists and residents.

A three-year-old girl was crushed to death under an e-rickshaw that was allegedly trying to avoid a dug-up portion of a service lane in west Delhi’s Dwarka on Saturday afternoon.

The e-rickshaw that fell on three-year-old Ikra, killing her on the spot in Dwarka’s Sector 16B.

Police officers said that their probe was yet to ascertain the exact role the dug up portion of road caused in the mishap.

Local residents, however, claimed that the e-rickshaw toppled on the girl and killed her while the vehicle was trying to avoid some mud that had piled up along the side of the service road.

One local resident named Barkat alleged that hundreds of metres along the road in Dwarka Sector 16B had been dug up around four months ago, leaving the stretch dangerous for motorists and residents.

“There have been five-six accidents at or around this spot in the past few weeks. One car was damaged and a motorcycle had turned over on January 1,” alleged Barkat. The presence of several cart vendors along the stretch further contributes to shriking of the road space.

Police said the victim, identified as Ikra, lived with her family in Dwarka Sector 14. Her father works in Jaipur. “For the past few days, she was staying in New Adarsh Apartment in Dwarka Sector 16B with her aunt and other relatives,” said Ikra’s uncle, Mohammad Mushtaq.

The incident took place around 3pm on Saturday when Ikra had stepped out to buy some household items. “While returning home, she noticed other children playing on the roadside and joined them,” said Mushtaq.

Eyewitnesses said that they later saw an e-rickshaw climb up on a heap of mud dug out and toppling over on Ikra. “She was killed on the spot. Two passengers on the e-rickshaw escaped with minor injuries,” said Mushtaq. Ikra was rusheed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, but she was declared brought dead. Police said she had died of head injuries.

The driver of the e-rickshaw was nabbed by locals at the spot . “He told us that his vehicle toppled while trying to avoid the mud piled up along the roadside,” an eyewitness said.

Anto Alphonse, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) , said that the e-rickshaw overturned after its driver applied brakes to avoid running over the girl. The officer identified the e-rickshaw driver as 23-year-old Ankit and said he was arrested and a case of causing death due to negligence registered against him at Dwarka (North) police station.