The spot where a 23-year-old woman and her nine-month-old toddler died after the former stepped on a live electric wire in the early hours of Sunday near Hope Farm junction in Whitefield, Bengaluru.
Credit: DH PHOTO/UDBHAVI BALAKRISHNA
Bengaluru: “She was screaming for help on the phone; I was helpless, there was nothing we could do but run, but they were both up in flames by the time we reached,” said Shobha, the mother of Soundharya, the woman who was electrocuted with her 9-month-old daughter on Sunday morning.
Shobha, who took in Soundharya as her daughter after the latter’s parents passed away over a decade ago, was inconsolable.
Speaking to DH, she explained that Soundharya, her husband Santhosh, and their daughter Suviksha had gone to Santhosh’s home in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, last Sunday and were returning just in time for Soundharya to pay her 12th-grade government examination fee before sitting for her exams. “She called me when they got off the bus at Silk Board Jn at 4 am and told me that she would be home in some time. She called again after reaching the Hope Farm bus stop and told me they were waiting for an auto-rickshaw but she never cut the call. I only heard her screaming,” she said.
The family rushed to the spot from their home about two kilometres away to see Soundharya and her daughter up in flames and an inconsolable Santhosh. He had reportedly tried to push his wife away from the wire but sustained some burn injuries on his right hand. “Nobody helped; they only recorded videos,” he said.
The distraught family gathered outside the Kadugodi police station and demanded the immediate arrest of Bescom officials.
They alleged that the live wire had snapped around 1 am but the Bescom officers were negligent and failed to cut off the power supply. “Why didn’t they switch off the power supply? Did they not realise the wire had snapped? What if more people died?” asked another female relative.
Santhosh and Soundharya had been married for nearly four years and were returning to the city for Soundharya’s exams.