Mumbai: 15-year-old gets electrocuted, dies during school picnic

Cops suspect that the Std X student touched a live wire after he went for a swim; he was found lying next to a lighting pole in a restricted area at a resort in Malad

A 15-year-old schoolboy died during a school picnic after he was electrocuted by a live wire at a Malad (West) resort on Saturday. The incident has now brought the resort management under the scanner for negligence.

15-year-old Haider Ali Sayed was found lying next to a lighting pole in a restricted area at the Malad resort

Haider Ali Sayed, a Std X student, was amongst 300 students from a Shivaji Nagar-based school who went on a picnic to Saina resort, situated off Patil Wadi Road, Madh Marve. They were accompanied by 29 teachers and the school principal.

Around 2.30 pm, Haider had spoken to his mother and told her he was enjoying the picnic, but suddenly after two hours, around 4:30pm, he was found lying unconscious on the lawn near a lighting pole located inside the resort premises,” said Haider’s relative.Haider was found in a restricted area, cordoned off with a fence.

All the students were playing water games at the time he was discovered, and the police suspect that he may have touched a live wire in the lighting pole’s exposed electric panel after a swim.“

Initially, however, the school staff thought he had suffered an epileptic attack and gave him primary medical aid. “When the boy did not respond, he was taken to Atlantic hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. A black mark was found on his hand and the postmortem reports revealed that he died of electrocution,” said SPI Prakash Patil, from Malwani police station.

“We are questioning the management and the school students and staff to understand the sequence of events. The area where his body was found is a restricted area, and we are trying to find out how he managed to drift away from his group and reach there,” added Patil.

A case was registered against the resort management under section 304(A) (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. The police are also investigating why the school staff present could not prevent the mishap. Haider’s mother and sisters live in Govandi, while his father works in Dubai. The cops said his final rites would be completed once his father arrived.

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