Falling dry branch kills 12-year-old boy off MG Road

A labourer couple in search of jobs due to drought in their native village, lost their 12-year-old son after a dry tree branch fell on him.

Deceased Manoj is the son of Rajesh and Mahalakshmi, migrant labourers from Theetakallu village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

The couple were staying in a makeshift tent in Vijayanagar. They were engaged in digging work for CCTV cable near MG Road. The couple came to the city to give their son a bright future but had to return to their village with his body. They said they will never return to Bengaluru.

Rajesh stated in the complaint that while working at the Falcon Tower on Brunton Road, near MG Road, he had warned the site engineer Shameen, electrical engineer Praful Kumar and contractor Karunakar as well as supervisor Kumar, that many tree branches in the premises had dried up and were about to fall. They ignored him and told him to mind his business.

The complaint said, on May 22, Rajesh and his wife were busy digging for CCTV cable laying. Around 2.45 pm, their son Manoj left saying he wanted to drink water.

Soon, the couple heard Manoj scream. When they rushed to the spot, he was bleeding from his left thigh. He was rushed to Hosmat Hospital. Around 4.30 pm, doctors informed that the boy's left leg was cut and due to extensive bleeding, he succumbed.

Halasuru police booked the owner of Falcon Tower, site engineer Shameen, electrical engineer Praful Kumar, contractor Karunakar and supervisor Kumar, under IPC section 304 (A) - causing death by negligence.