Playing outside apartment, toddler mowed down by reversing water tanker in Sarjapur Road

A three-year-old girl died after coming under a water tanker in a case of hit-and-run in southeastern Bengaluru’s Sarjapur Road at 12.10 pm on Thursday, the HSR Layout traffic police said.

Pratiksha Bhat was playing outside Shwetha Residency in Serenity Layout, Sarjapur Road, when the driver of the tanker (KA 51/AD 5333) reversed all of a sudden, knocking her down.

As she fell down, the right rear wheel of the tanker ran her over, inflicting serious injuries on her head. She died on the spot, according to police.

The tanker driver was heading out after filling up an underground sump at the apartment complex. He clearly acted in a reckless and negligent manner when he decided to reverse the tanker without making sure the path was clear, police said.

To make it worse, he just drove off. Police are making efforts to trace him.

Based on a complaint from the girl’s father Khemraj Bhat, police have taken up a case under IPC Sections 279 (negligent driving), 304(A) (causing death by negligence) and 134 (A and B) read with Section 187 of the Indian Motor Vehicles (IMV) Act.

The IMV section pertains to the duty of a driver in case of an accident.