School bus driver mows down 5-year-old in Punjab’s Doraha

On hearing Jasvir’s screams, the family members came out and rushed him to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

A negligent school bus driver mowed down a five-year-old boy near his house at Manjaliya village in Doraha on Monday.

Victim Jasvir Singh

Jasvir Singh, a nursery student at a private school, had just alighted from the bus at 2 pm when the incident took place. Jasvir’s grandfather Karam Singh, 64, said instead of dropping the child outside the gate of the house, the conductor asked him to get down on the other side of the road. While the boy was trying to cross the road, the driver failed to notice him and he was crushed.

Under the ‘safe school vahan scheme’, the bus attendant is required to help the students in crossing the road.

On hearing Jasvir’s screams, the family members came out and rushed him to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Though the driver Gurmail Singh and conductor Karam Singh fled from the spot, they were later arrested on charges of rash driving and causing death by negligence.

The boy’s grandfather also sought an FIR against the school principal and the management, alleging that he had repeatedly complained to them against the driver and conductor who used to drop children on the road.

“But all our complaints fell on deaf ears,” he said. Under the ‘safe school vahan scheme’, the bus attendant is required to help the students in crossing the road.