E-rickshaw hits mom, kid falls into hot oil pan

NEW DELHI: A 3-year-old child died in a bizarre accident involving a rashly driven e-rickshaw at Trilokpuri in east Delhi on Tuesday evening, police said.
A woman carrying a child was hit by the e-rickshaw from behind. The child fell from her lap and dropped into a hot oil pan at a sweet shop. Cops are looking for the driver but it seems to be a fruitless chase as there is no numberplate or identification symbol and all e-rickshaws look similar.
The mishap was reported from Block-32 when Pinki (22) was going to fetch milk with her son Dev. She was standing next to the sweet shop and was waiting to cross over when the e-rickshaw rammed her.
Pinki fell and Dev was thrown forward. She quickly got up and tried to pull the child out of the pan. The shopowner, Jagdish, simply looked on and ran away when she raised the alarm, Pinki claimed.
Pinki made a grab at the boy and heaved him out. Her arms and a part of her face were burned.
The driver took to his heels, leaving the e-rickshaw behind. Hearing Pinki's cries for help, residents gathered. They took the child to hospital but he was declared dead on arrival. Pinki was admitted into an emergency burns ward.
The child's father, Sanjay (28), registered a complaint at the Mayur Vihar police station.
The cops registered cases against both the driver and the sweet shopowner for negligence. Police said both of them stay in the block where the accident took place. They are now on the run.
"Repeated requests to stop e-rickshaws from plying in the narrow lanes of Trilokpuri have fallen on deaf ears. I guess they were waiting for an accident to happen," said the child's father, who owns a cycle repair shop a little distance away from the accident spot.
A case of causing death due to negligence has been registered against the shopowner and a case of causing hurt has been registered against the e-rickshaw driver. The cops have impounded the vehicle.