An 18-month-old baby on a scooter with his parents died after he slipped off his mother’s arms, either because the two-wheeler was brushed by a trailer from the rear or hit a bump on Thackeray Road in Alipore.
Before the parents could react, the rear wheels of the trailer crushed the baby, police said.
Sloke Jaiswara, a resident of Thackeray Road, was declared dead at SSKM Hospital.
The accident was reported at 11.35pm on Wednesday. Police said the road was deserted and there were no eyewitnesses.
Officers said the trailer stopped within a few metres of the accident spot and that its driver Sanjay Kumar Rajak, 51, who did not try to flee, had been arrested. He has been charged with causing death due to negligence, mischief, and rash and negligent driving.
“From the condition of the two vehicles, it appears that the two-wheeler was trying to overtake the trailer from the right side when either the trailer hit the scooter or the child slipped off his mother’s arms after the scooter hit a speed-breaker,” said an officer who had visited the spot.
The incident happened close to the baby’s home, not far from Dhana Dhanya Auditorium.
The child’s parents are unhurt. “The mother is inconsolable. The child’s head was crushed under the wheels,” an officer from Alipore police station said.
Another officer, who was part of the team that removed the body from the road and dispersed the mob that had gathered after the news of the death spread, said the parents were in no condition to speak.
Less than two weeks ago, a Class VII student of The Newtown School who was riding pillion on her mother’s scooter fell off the two-wheeler when its handle got snagged in a truck’s rear fender on VIP Road. She was crushed under the wheels of the truck. Her mother too suffered injuries.
A senior police officer from the traffic department said one should be extra careful while ferrying children on two-wheelers.
“We often find elders allowing children on the pillion without making sure the child is old enough to be able to hold on to the grab-rails or the rider if there’s a jerk or an accident,” the officer said.
“Sometimes, people forget to provide helmets to their children while taking them out as pillion riders.”
An 18-month-old child’s head would be too small for a helmet, anyway.
Elders carrying children dangerously on two-wheelers, either in their arms or squeezed between two riders, is a common sight.
“If an adult is riding pillion with a child on their lap, it’s obvious that in case of a jerk or a collision, the pillion rider would try to hold on to the grab-rails. That may automatically loosen their grip on the child,” a traffic police officer said.
“A baby gear that keeps a child tied to the body of the adult can be used in such situations.”
Neighbours said the baby’s father, Sanjay Jaiswara, works at a private office and that Sloke was the couple’s only child. The family was returning home from a wedding, they said.
They added that the baby’s maternal grandfather used to run a small eatery near the Alipore correctional home.
