Witness says the driver had the time to apply brakes, but could not do so as the bus was speeding.
A nine-year-old boy who was crossing a road to meet his father on the other side was mowed down by a speeding private bus on National Highway 4 in Peenya on Sunday.
The deceased, Somashekhara, was a resident of Dasarahalli and a Class IV student in a government school. He was an only child.
The incident occurred at 8 am when his father Dhanappa went to withdraw cash from an ATM, leaving Somashekhara on the other side of the road. As soon as Dhanappa came out of the ATM, an excited Somashekhara started running towards the other side of the road.
The driver of the speeding bus, belonging to SRS Travels, failed to apply the brakes as the boy was run over, killing him instantly.
Gangamma, a witness, said that the driver had time to apply the brakes, but could not do so as the bus was speeding. The police have identified the bus driver as Mukunda, who is absconding. The bus was heading towards the city from Tumkur.
Following the accident, enraged residents blocked the road for over two hours. They said that such incidents take place regularly, but officials and politicians do not bother to take necessary steps.
The protest was stopped after the intervention of S Muniraju, Dasarahalli MLA. The legislator promised the crowd that adequate measures would be taken to ensure road safety.
The body was handed over to family members after the postmortem in MS Ramaiah Hospital. The family hails from Bijapur.
A case has been registered in Peenya traffic police station.
Dhanappa, who saw his son die in front of him, fainted. After regaining consciousness, he remained still for over 15 minutes.
He then got up and started pelting stones at the bus, damaging the wind shield. Later, the police pacified Dhanappa.
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