Assam: A 12-year-old boy was electrocuted in Cachar. Locals blame power department

Silchar: A 12-year-old boy was killed on Thursday after coming in contact with a high voltage live wire in Bhairabpur, Klein in Cachar district of southern Assam. The deceased Kishan Rai was a fifth class student of Natanpur Lower Primary School in Katigorah.
According to sources, the incident took place on Thursday morning when Kishan came out of his house in Bhairabpur, about 32 km from Silchar. It rained heavily Wednesday night and a high-voltage live wire, which had been hanging indefinitely for the past several months, was cut off from the power line, probably due to strong winds.
Sources said that the minor came in contact with the live wire and died.

Bhairabpur (which falls under the Katigorah Assembly constituency) is a small village and getting up early in the morning and going for a walk is a common habit among the people of rural areas.

Sources said that the news of the child’s death spread like wildfire, after which a large number of villagers gathered on the spot and later blocked National Highway 6 in protest. He blamed the power department for the boy’s death and demanded Rs 1 million as compensation to his family.
A police team arrived on the scene and tried to persuade the protesters. However, angry people continued the blockade and refused to withdraw their protest till the power department officials arrived.
A junior engineer of the power department along with some other workers reached there some time later. Angry residents surrounded him and demanded an explanation for the “reckless act.” After the intervention of some local leaders, the police managed to rescue the junior engineer.
The protesters demanded that the family of the deceased be compensated within three days and threatened to block NH 6 again if their demands were not met within the stipulated time.

If someone dies in a natural disaster like flood, compensation is given. In case of electric shock, compensation is given if it is proved that the death was due to some mistake / negligence of the power department, ”said Devi.
He said that the inquiry report and post-mortem report would be studied and on the basis of this a final report would be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Kechar, Kirti Jalli. The matter will then proceed in accordance with government principles.