Noida: A three-year-old boy was crushed to death on Wednesday in Noida Sector 31 after a 32-year-old man allegedly reversed on to him, police said Thursday. The suspect was arrested and the car was also seized.
Officials said that a CCTV recording of the incident showed that the suspect was holding the car’s door with one hand and steering with the other. The incident took place in front of the victim’s eight-year-old brother, Shivam. HT accessed the CCTV footage of the incident.
The injured kid, Abhi, was rushed to a nearby private hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead, they added.
The victim lived in A block with his family, who belong to Chattarpur, Madhya Pradesh. They have been living in Noida for three years. The boy’s father, Ashish, is a daily wage worker and his mother, Ramkali, is a domestic helper. He also has a sister,aged 6.
The incident took place around 5.30 pm when the boy was returning from a nearby grocery shop, about 50-100 metres from his house, where he had gone to buy something to eat, said his mother.
“My husband was out for work and I was busy with household work. After a few minutes I heard a loud thud sound like of an accident,” the mother told HT, adding as she ran out, “My world turned upside-down on spotting my son in a blood-soaked condition under the wheels of a car.”
The victim stopped to interact with two neighbourhood kids standing nearby when the car drove onto him while reversing at speed and crashed into a boundary wall of the victim’s home. “The entire incident unfolded in front eight-year-old Shivam who saw the incident but did not speak a word,” said the mother explained to HT with teary eyes.
“We rescued Abhi by lifting the car with neighbours’ help and rushed him to a Sector 27 hospital. But doctors declared him brought dead,” Ramkali added.
Police said Jayant Sharma, 32, a resident of Sector 36, was driving the car, and was accompanied by his minor son when the incident took place. After handing over his son to a family member, he helped neighbours in rescuing the boy and took him to a hospital in another car.
“It came to light that Sharma had come to visit his father-in-law’s home in Sector 31, in front of the victim’s house. He had come a few hours before the incident,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity.
Neighbours told HT that Sharma’s in-laws were already upset over an SUV (KIA Seltos) parked in their parking space. “Sharma’s mother-in-law approached us and asked about the parked SUV,” said Chanchal, who resides in the neighbourhood.
She further added that “the family seemed upset due to their parking space being occupied. Later, they somehow managed to approach the car owner, and the SUV was moved to another place.”
She said it was not clear if Sharma was parking his car or leaving at the time of the incident.
After the accident, police received information on emergency helpline number 112, and a team rushed to the spot. Later, cops removed the damaged car from the spot and towed it to the Sector 20 police station. There was a lock at Sharma’s in-laws’ house, and neighbours said that they left after a few hours of the accident.
They locked home and left somewhere else to stay. The house has been locked since the incident took place. Police suspected that neighbours and the victim’s family member might have indulged in a fight with them. Fearing any dispute, they left, they added.
On Thursday, the post-mortem of the boy was conducted, and the family said they will take the body to their home in Chattarpur for last rites. “I lost everything. My son was much smarter than his age. Now I have only one son, who will compensate for my loss that I have suffered for life,” said Ramkali and Ashish in tears.
Sumit Shukla, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida, said, “Suspect Sharma is an engineer and works at a private company. It was revealed that he was parking the car at another place when the incident took place. He was arrested and produced before the court.”
“The suspect was released on bail, and no alcohol consumption was found in the medical examination,” he added.
Another official said, “The suspect revealed that he was driving an automatic car. He did not realise that the car was in reverse gear before accelerating the vehicle.”
On the complaint of Abhi’s father, a case was filed under sections 281 (rash driving) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Sector 20 police station.