Ghaziabad: An eight-year-old boy was allegedly electrocuted while trying to unplug an electric scooter in Ankur Vihar.The child, Yug alias Kushal, was alone at his home in Chaman Vihar Colony when the incident took place around 9am on Friday. His parents were at Mathura to attend the last rites of a relative.Police said Yug approached the e-scooter, which had been left charging on the verandah, and while trying to remove the charger, came into contact with an exposed or faulty part of it. He suffered a severe electric shock and collapsed unconscious.A cousin spotted him and rushed to help, but found Yug entangled in the charger wire. While trying to free him, the cousin also received an electric shock but escaped without serious injury. Yug was rushed to Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital in Delhi, where doctors declared him dead on arrival and informed the Ankur Vihar police station about the incident.
Yug (8) died of electrocution after coming into contact with an electric scooter
Police said the circumstances leading to the electric shock are being examined. They said it is not yet clear if the scooter was being charged from an ordinary socket. It typically requires a high-power 16-ampere socket with proper earthing to prevent overheating and fire risks. The scooter was from a local brand. It had been parked outdoors and police suspect that the child had been playing with the socket before he got electrocuted.The incident has also raised concerns over the safety of leaving electric vehicles connected to charging points in areas accessible to children. The cops are expected to examine the charger, wiring and electric scooter to determine whether an electrical fault or damaged wiring contributed to the incident. No formal complaint has been lodged yet.The incident came barely a month after the ground floor of a house in Mamura was gutted in a fire caused by a basement charging point into which an EV battery had been plugged. Residents on the upper floors of the five-storey building were choked, and two residents were killed.A TOI visit to other urban villages surrounding Mamura found e-rickshaws and e-scooters being routinely plugged into household sockets or roadside power points, often using extension boards and makeshift wiring. Vehicles are left charging for hours, sometimes overnight, increasing the risk of overheating, short circuits and fires as EV adoption outpaces the availability of regulated charging infrastructure.Fire officials said domestic electrical systems lack safeguards such as surge protection and thermal cut-offs needed for prolonged high-current charging. The risk is greater in densely populated neighbourhoods with narrow lanes that can delay fire engines.
