A builder’s haste in dismantling an old structure without taking safety measures left an old woman dead and injured her polio-affected neighbour. The victims lived in an asbestos covered structure separated from the two-storeyed building undergoing reconstruction by a narrow lane. The incident happened at Bhagyoday Nagar area in Kondhwa around 5pm on Saturday, according to the Kondhwa police
The deceased, identified as Indubai Sathvaji Trikappa, 70, and the injured women, Jayashree Balasaheb Bhalshankar, 38, came under the debris of the wall that came crashing from the two-storeyed building . The injured woman, polio-affected as a child, was rushed to the nearby Satyanand Hospital by the police.
The deceased woman, who was also the landlord of the one-room house where Jayashree lives and shares the same wall, was visiting Jayashree who was preparing a meal for Dussehra when the incident took place.
“The two-storeyed house was sold to a builder. His men came and started razing the second floor of the building. When a major portion of the wall facing the victim’s two-room house came crashing on the asbestos-roofed structure, the workers fled,” said a neighbour of the injured woman. The injured shared her one-room with her 15-year-old son Prathamesh Balasaheb Bhalshankar.
“The injured victim is stable now. She has sustained injuries on the right shoulder and left leg, besides blunt trauma on other parts of the body,” said Dr Mursalin Shah, resident medical officer at Satyanand Hospital.
{{/usCountry}}“The injured victim is stable now. She has sustained injuries on the right shoulder and left leg, besides blunt trauma on other parts of the body,” said Dr Mursalin Shah, resident medical officer at Satyanand Hospital.
{{/usCountry}}Kondhwa police station sub inspector and investigation officer PD Devkate said, “The builder, Jafar Pathan, has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Saturday. We have added Section 304(a) of IPC for causing death due to negligence after the elderly woman was declared dead at Ruby Hall hospital.”
Prathamesh, who escaped the incident with minor trauma on his right leg, will appear for his Class 10 semi-final exam at Camp Education school from Tuesday. “My books are buried under the debris,” he said.