Nuh (Mewat), August 28
As a tractor trailer came in contact with loose and dangling live wire here this afternoon, one of the women hitching a ride back home instinctively tried to brush it aside and was electrocuted. She died on the spot and so did five other women and two teenaged girls. The freak accident took place near village Kherla in Mewat. The tractor was loaded with fodder.

Several other women and a boy travelling on the trailer suffered injuries and two of them had to be rushed to hospitals in Delhi while others were admitted to a local hospital for treatment.

A case under various sections of the IPC, including Section 304 (Culpable Homicide not amounting to murder) has been registered against officials responsible for allowing the live wires to dangle dangerously for the past several days.

Local residents had repeatedly complained about the loose electric wires to the authorities concerned but they allegedly paid no heed. The dereliction of duty by the officials directly led to today’s tragic incident, eyewitnesses alleged.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced an ex gratia grant of Rs 3 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for each of the injured. Expressing his shock and grief over the accident, he announced that the power utilities would also pay compensation for the deceased within a week.

The six women who lost their lives in the tragic incident are Kherun Nissa, Makeena, Napesa, Varisa, Jamseda and Hansira. The deceased girls included Amina and Miskeena. Three girls, Javida, Fatima and Ruksena, and a boy, Sahed, were injured.

Javid and Fatima have been referred to a hospital in New Delhi, while the other injured have been admitted to a hospital in Nuh.