Mentally challenged man runs out of hospital, gets hit by tempo, dies near Mumbai

The man was running along the highway when the tempo hit him

A 25-year-old mentally challenged man died after he ran out of a hospital and got hit by a tempo at Ulhasnagar on Tuesday afternoon.

Security guards made no attempt to stop the man when he fled from the hospital.(HT File)

Police said the victim, Panchu Jangla Roy, lived in Jharkhand. He came to Kalyan three days ago to seek treatment for a throat infection and headache and had been staying at a relative’s house.

On Tuesday morning, Roy began hitting himself, saying his throat and head were hurting. His relative restrained him and took him to Central Hospital in Ulhasnagar.

After receiving treatment he said he was feeling better. His relative took him back home. However, he started hitting himself once more. “His relative brought him back to the hospital. While the doctors were examining him, he jumped off the bed, hit his relative, ran to the garbage bin and picked up two glass bottles. He began threatening everyone in the ward with them,” said Gorakhsnath Wagh, police sub inspector from Central police station in Ulhasnagar.

Roy ran out of the hospital. Police said security guards made no attempt to stop him.

“Roy was running along the highway when the tempo hit him. Tempo driver Raju Hiralal Dange, 36, hit the brakes, but Roy’s head got crushed under the rear tyre,” said Wagh.

Police arrested Dange, an Ulhasnagar resident, under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicle Act. He was produced in court and sent to magistrate custody.