11-year-old girl dies of electric shock

 

 

 

A 11-year-old girl died on the spot after receiving an electric shock from a streetlight pole in Kalmeshwar on Saturday evening. The deceased was identified as Sonali Sandeep Maraskolhe, a resident of Karna Layout, Brahmani, Kalmeshwar. According to police, Sonali had gone to play with her brother in the nearby field when she accidentally stepped on an exposed electric wire near the streetlight pole. She got stuck to the live current, collapsed and lost her life within moments. At that time, a large number of people were gathered in the area for Ganesh immersion. As soon as news of the incident spread, locals gathered to the spot.

 

Citizens strongly protested and blamed the negligence of the Kalmeshwar Municipal Council. They alleged that the streetlight poles installed by the council had uncovered wires. Since the spot has a garden, gym equipment and a temple, it is visited by hundreds of people every day. The situation remained tense until late at night. Police Inspector Manoj Kalbande conducted the panchnama, and Sonali’s body was later sent to Nagpur for postmortem.

 

A meeting was held late at night at the Kalmeshwar Police Station in the presence of Tehsildar Vikas Bikkad, Municipal Council Chief Officer Akash Suradkar, an MSEDCL officer, social activists, and Sonali’s father, Sandeep Maraskolhe. In this meeting, the Chief Officer agreed to provide financial help of Rs 2 lakh. Out of this, Rs 40,000 was handed over immediately to cover funeral expenses. However, citizens rejected the aid as insufficient. They demanded that Rs 50 lakh compensation should be given to Sonali’s parents.