Bengaluru: An 11-year-old boy came into contact with a live wire allegedly left dangling dangerously close to a building at Devarachikkanahalli, south Bengaluru, and the electric shock left him with 30% burns.Darshan, a class 6 student, underwent treatment at Victoria Hospital. His father, Kuppan, who runs a bike garage at Hongasandra, has accused Bescom officials of turning a blind eye to a potentially fatal hazard despite being alerted to it earlier.According to a complaint lodged by Kuppan, his two children had visited his garage on Nov 8 for Deepavali Lakshmi puja. While his elder son returned home after the puja and bursting firecrackers, Darshan stayed back. Around 8 pm, the boy went to use a toilet in the passage on the first-floor terrace of the commercial building. He accidentally came into contact with an exposed electric wire hanging dangerously close to the building. The resulting shock left him with burns, particularly on his right hand, besides injuries to his chest, back and hair at the back of his head.Kuppan told TOI that a sudden explosion was followed by a power outage in the locality. “Just then, I heard my son screaming. When I rushed upstairs, I found his T-shirt on fire. I immediately put out the flames and took him to a nearby clinic. The doctors there advised us to rush him to a hospital, following which we took him to the burns ward at Victoria Hospital,” he said.The doctors discharged Darshan Friday evening, advising the family to take him home as prolonged hospitalisation could expose him to a greater risk of infection. He has been asked to return regularly for wound dressing and further treatment, Kuppan said.For the father, the tragedy was entirely avoidable. The building houses three shops on the ground floor, including his garage, and three more on the first floor, including a beauty parlour. Children frequently accompany their mothers to the parlour and play in the vicinity while they wait. “The wires have been hanging dangerously close to the building for a long time,” Kuppan said.He alleged that both he and the building owner had repeatedly brought the hazard to the attention of Bescom officials. However, they were told that some work was still in progress and that the wires would be fixed once it was completed. Even after the work was over, their concerns allegedly went unaddressed, he said.It was only after Darshan suffered the electric shock that Bescom staff raised the wires, he said. Begur police registered a case. Bescom officials did not respond to calls seeking their comment.
