29 June,2016 08:34 AM IST | | Faisal Tandel
No cop or BMC official visited Shahid Shaikh to register complaint, when he was in the hospital for three months after the incident in January, when he fell into a manhole covered with small piece of plywood
Shahid Javed Shaikh has become a victim of the system once again. After negligence by the BMC in covering an open manhole at Oshiwara left him bedridden on January 13, it took nearly five months for him to lodge a complaint about the same.
Shahid Shaikh was bedridden for five months after the incident
Last Friday, the local police registered a case of negligence against the unknown contractor. Shaikh ran from pillar to post to get the case registered against the authorities so that he can secure compensation from the defaulter. He was bedridden for more than three months after the accident. Even after this, instead of the police approaching him for registering a case, he had to visit them to get a case registered.
mid-day had reported on Shaikh's fall into the manhole on January 25. The incident took place on January 13, when Shaikh and his friend visited Café Tashkend Hotel on SV road. He fell into the manhole, which was covered with a small piece of plywood. His left leg went inside completely.
Compensate for loss
Shaikh has suffered a loss of more than R2 lakh, because he was jobless for around five months, while his medical expenses totalled to more than Rs 70,000. "I had savings of only Rs 20,000, which got over in the first week [after the incident] itself. The authorities should compensate me for the loss. None of the officials even visited me when I was in the hospital," added Shaikh.
A case has been registered at Oshiwara police station under section 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life of personal safety of others) and 338 (Causing grievous hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.
Cop says
On Tuesday Mahadev Chavan, Assistant Police Inspector, Oshiwara police station along with Shaikh visited the spot for a panchanama.
He said, "We have registered a case against the contractor who was taking care of the manhole and kept it open without putting a lid on it. We will further see who the contractor was and accordingly, take action
against him."
