11-year-old electrocuted at lavish wedding venue

A lavish wedding ceremony in central Bengaluru turned tragic after an 11-year-old boy accidentally touched an uninsulated bare wire and was electrocuted on Saturday night.

Sudarshan Gowda, a class 4 student, was attending the wedding of a relative at Gate No 9, Palace Grounds. His father Shekhar, maternal grandfather Kariyappa, mother Nalini, aunt Pooja and siblings Jayashree and Muneesh and other members of the family accompanied him. It was the wedding of the daughter of Mahadeva Gowda, a relative of Kariyappa’s.

The family reached the venue around 7.30 pm, wished the couple, had dinner and started to leave after an hour. But they had to pull back as it started to drizzle. They then took a walk through a pathway decked with welcome signboards and serial lights.

A curious Sudarshan sprung to his feet and reached for a wire on the signboard. An electric shock struck him in no time. Kariyappa, who was close-by, rushed to his grandson’s rescue but suffered an electric shock himself. As Sudarshan collapsed to the ground, his family quickly drove him to Vikram Hospital but it was too late. Doctors declared him brought dead.

The hospital intimated the police about the boy’s death. Police went to the wedding venue and conducted inquiries. They later booked Princess Shrine (Princess Academy), the company that runs the wedding venue, the venue manager and the in-charge of decorative lightings under IPC section 304A (criminal negligence causing accidental death). Police are yet to question or detain the suspects.

Sudarshan was the only son of Shekhar, a businessman who supplies advertisement signage materials. The family lives in Srinivas Nagar, Sunkadakatte, North Bengaluru.