On Wednesday morning a 14-year-old boy was crushed to death by a tractor in outer Delhi’s Begumpur area. According to police, the incident took place at approximately 9:30 am when the boy, identified as Manish, was on his way to buy some grocery items near a government school. The erring driver, identified as Lalaram (25), alias Vijay Bahadur, was arrested on the spot.
The victim was a resident of Sahabad Dairy. He was riding a cycle, which suffered a collision with a speeding tractor. ‘When he (victim) arrived near the curve at the government school, a speeding tractor rammed into him. Manish died on the spot. The accused driver was unable to slow down immediately, which proved to be fatal’, said a senior police official.
Lalaram was caught by some locals on the spot and was later handed over to the police. Some locals informed the victim’s family members about the incident. They eventually rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
After the incident came to light, reportedly hundreds of locals protested at the spot for about 30 minutes and tried to vandalize the tractor. The situation was brought under control after some senior officials intervened. Manish was survived by his father, Chandrakant Mehta, who works in a factory, his mother, four sisters and two younger brothers.