‘Driver didn’t stop even after raising alarm’: Agra school owner held for Class 1 student’s death under bus wheels

Days after a 9-year-old girl slipped through the broken floor of a school bus and was crushed to death under its wheels, Agra Police arrested the driver on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and negligence.

The accused, Narendra (35), is also the school owner.

“Initially, we were misled into believing that another person was driving the school bus at the time of the incident.

However, during investigation, it emerged that the school owner, Narendra, was behind the wheel.

The bus has also been seized,” said Shivajeet, senior sub-inspector at Etmadpur police station.

He added that the role of another person named in the case is still under investigation.

The victim, Naina, was a Class I student.

According to police, in the complaint lodged by the child’s father Bani Singh, the family said the incident took place on March 11 when Naina was returning home on the bus.

They alleged that the driver was speeding, causing the child to fall through a broken portion of the bus floor and sustain serious injuries.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, but doctors declared her dead on arrival.

The child’s family alleged that the school management had been using a dilapidated and unsafe bus to transport children to and from the school.

Naina’s aunt, Akansha Devi, said: “The entire responsibility for this tragedy lies with the school and the bus driver.

Why were they using such a bus to ferry children?”
Devi said two other girls from the family, including Naina’s elder sister, were also on the bus at the time.

“They said the driver was driving carelessly… Even after the children raised an alarm that Naina had fallen, the driver did not stop the bus immediately.

He continued driving for some distance before finally stopping the vehicle,” she alleged.

In a similar incident on March 1, a seven-year-old girl died after allegedly slipping through a damaged portion of the floor of a moving school bus in Kasganj district while returning home from school.

The kindergarten student was travelling in the bus along with three other children, including her elder brother.

Stay updated with the latest -Click here to follow us on Instagram