Kota electrocution: Case of 'culpable homicide' lodged against organisers of Maha Shivaratri event

Kota electrocution: Case of 'culpable homicide' lodged against organisers of Maha Shivaratri event

Kota (Rajasthan): Police have lodged a case of culpable homicide against three organisers of the Maha Shivaratri procession in which 16 children and two others received burn injuries due to electrocution, officials said on Saturday.

Police said a report on the standard of the high-tension power lines that caused the electrocution has also been sought from the discom to decide the future course of action in the matter.

Another victim, a 12-year-old girl with 5-10 per cent burn injuries, was admitted to burn injuries ward on Saturday, officials said.

While one child was discharged from MBS Hospital, the rest of them were under treatment at the burn injuries ward, superintendent Dr Dharmraj Meena said.

The condition of five children with critical burn injuries in Jaipur’s SMS Hospital was said to be stable, Meena said.

Two of the 13 patients are on inotropic support and the rest are vitally stable, according to a report by the head of the department released on Saturday evening.

The patients are under continuous supervision of a general surgeon, paediatrician, plastic surgeon and other experts, it said.

One of the children, aged 7, was given Dobuta support on Friday and taken on to oxygen support but now he was normal without oxygen support, Meena said.

Children, all between 10-16 years old, were electrocuted from a high-tension power line passing overhead in the Sakatpura area in Kota on Friday. Five critically injured children were sent to SMS Hospital in Jaipur for treatment, while the rest were hospitalised in MBS Hospital, Kota.

The state government and the local administration have ordered a probe into the incident.

Meanwhile, police have lodged a case of culpable homicide and endangering human life under IPC sections 308, 338 and 34 against three organisers of the ‘Shiv Barat’ on the basis of a complaint by the father of a critically injured child.

The organisers were identified as Badrilal, Babulal and Gopal of Sakatpura area, SHO at Kunhari Police Station Arvind Bhardwaj said. Bhardwaj said a report on the condition of the high-tension power lines has also been sought from the discom to decide the future course of action in the matter, he said.

The electrocution happened after a 22-feet-long flagpole held by one of the boys in the ‘Shiv Barat’ touched the 132 KV high-tension power line passing overhead.