New Delhi: An eight-year-old girl died after an e-rickshaw overturned and fell on her in northeast Delhi’s Jafrabad on Wednesday. Akshita Parashar was a Class III student and lived with her family in Maujpur. A hospital informed police on Wednesday of a girl brought dead for treatment. The girl’s father, Manish Parashar, informed the cops that his wife was taking their daughter to school in Shahdara in an e-rickshaw. Before reaching Maujpur Chowk, the three-wheeler overturned, severely injuring the girl. The mother took her to the hospital with the help of a motorcyclist, but doctors declared her ‘brought dead’. Amid the chaos, the e-rickshaw driver fled the scene. A case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s sections 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence). “Investigators are pursuing the e-rickshaw driver and gathering evidence,” a police officer said. Manish Parashar, who is employed at a private firm in Gurgaon, said Akshita, along with her mother and younger sister, was on her way to school in Babarpur in northeast Delhi. “They were getting late for school, so when an e-rickshaw came by, they flagged it down. A schoolteacher and another child were already sitting in the rickshaw,” he said. After some time, Manish received a phone call from his wife, Anjana Rani, informing him about the accident. “She was frightened and barely able to speak. She told me the e-rickshaw had overturned and landed on my daughter, hitting her on the head,” he said. The other passengers did not suffer major injuries. Later, Rani alleged that the rickshaw was driven recklessly. The injured girl suffered significant blood loss. The family left home around 7.40am. Manish revealed that he usually dropped his daughters to school on a scooter or they walked. “The school is about two kilometres from home. But since I was preparing for Ganesh Chaturthi that morning, my wife said she would take the kids to school,” the father said. He also claimed that e-rickshaws were banned on the road, but several continued to operate with impunity. CCTV footage of the incident shows that it occurred in a busy area, where the e-rickshaw suddenly tipped over to one side. A bike rider was also injured as he happened to be passing by at the same moment. Bystanders at the scene rushed to upright the e-rickshaw. The girl’s school shared a condolence message which said: “Akshita Parashar was a bright soul who brought joy and warmth to our school community. This tragic loss has left a void in our hearts that can never be filled. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the grieving family and pray that they find strength and peace during this difficult time.” In another incident reported on Thursday, a driver died after the handle of an e-rickshaw broke and detached in northeast Delhi’s Welcome area, causing him to fall to the ground and sustain injuries that proved fatal.
