Slumdweller electrocuted in razed Mankhurd home

A day after losing his two-room home in the demolition drive at the Annubhau Sathe Nagar slums in Mankhurd, Shivaji Utekar (25) died when he stepped on a live wire.

A day after losing his two-room home in the demolition drive at the Annubhau Sathe Nagar slums in Mankhurd, Shivaji Utekar (25) died when he stepped on a live wire.

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All those who were rendered homeless after the city collectorate’s drive — that razed 3,000 shanties — were living amidst the scattered rubble that their homes had been reduced to.

Utekar, a daily wage labourer, had been staying in the area for the last 10 years and was living in the broken house with his wife and children after the demolition, said the Mankhurd police.

On Friday night, Utekar was sitting in the house when he went to the area where his bedroom used to be.

“He accidentally stepped on an exposed wire and got electrocuted. When his family saw Utekar unconscious, they raised an alarm. Locals helped rush him to the nearby hospital,” said Pascal D’souza, senior police inspector. “He died on his way to the hospital. We have registered a case of accidental death.”

Around 700 residents along with social activist Medha Patkar protested outside the Mankhurd police station demanding a case be registered against Reliance Energy.