A nine-month-old girl was crushed by an earthmover when she was sleeping at a park outside her house in south Delhi’s RK Puram on Sunday evening. The driver of the earthmover was arrested.
The girl’s mother said that the incident happened when she had left her alone for a few minutes to get a balloon for her. She added that she tried to catch the driver but he pushed her away and fled with his helper.
Police said the incident happened around 3.30pm when the girl, Nidhi, and her mother, Archana, were playing at the park. Speaking to TOI, Archana said they had been playing at the park for over an hour and were about to leave for home. “She fell asleep. There was a balloon seller nearby so I went to get one for her. I was constantly looking at her. She was out of my sight for barely a few seconds…and the next thing I saw was the earthmover reversing towards her,” said the mother.
Archana said she screamed for help and tried to catch the driver, but all went in vain. “I frantically ran towards my daughter when I saw the machine going towards her…constantly signalling the driver to stop. But despite seeing me waving and crying for help, he kept reversing the earthmover,” she said.
Archana’s father, Virgesh, said that by the time his wife reached the spot, the earthmover had already crushed their daughter’s head. “My wife was alone there…the driver overpowered her and pushed her on Nidhi’s body. After this, some people tried chasing the driver and his helper, but failed,” he said.
Police said the driver of the earthmover was identified with the help of the vehicle number. “He was arrested on Monday morning and his helper was asked to come to the police station,” said a senior police official.
Family members said that Nidhi was the couple’s first child and her mother had taken her out as she had been suffering with viral for the past few days. The police said that work on a sewer was going on near the spot and a notice will be sent to the contractor as well.