Granny dies in wall collapse, baby injured in Bangalore

A 70-year-old woman was killed and her five-month-old great-grandson injured when a wall collapsed on them at Kempe Gowda Colony in Ganganagar on Monday.

Identifying the woman as Muniyama, a resident of RT Nagar, police said she had visited her grandson Kuppuswamy’s rented accommodation in the slum. She was fond of the baby, and would visit often. 

She was playing with the child when the damaged wall of a makeshift shed in front of their house collapsed on them. Police said the woman was killed instantly. The child, who suffered minor injuries, was treated at Vani Vilas Hospital. Doctors said he was out of danger.

Muniyamma was employed as a housekeeper in a private hospital. She had reached Kuppuswamy’s house around noon.

After lunch, she and the baby were sitting outside the house when the wall collapsed around 1.30 pm. Neighbours said the wall, constructed eight decades ago, was weak. Kuppuswamy has been staying in the house for past six years.

House owner Raghu said he was not collecting rent from Kuppuswamy, and the house was give to him free of cost as he was poor.

Neighbours, however, disputed his claim, and said that a rent of nearly `1,000 was being collected. All the houses shared a common toilet, which was also the public toilet of the area.

BBMP engineer Mallappa D said, “The house was constructed more than 70 years ago. The wall collapsed because it had cracks.”

No case of negligence was registered against Raghu, police said.