16-year-old student falls to death from foot overbridge

A Class 9 student of a government school died on Wednesday afternoon after he fell off a foot overbridge (FOB) on Wazirabad Road as he leaned against its decrepit guardrail, police said on Thursday.

- Karn Pratap Singh

The boy, identified as 16-year-old Rakesh Singh, was in his school uniform and on his way to school with three other students when the incident occurred around 1.30pm on the FOB near Mandoli Jail in northest Delhi's Harsh Vihar.

Police officials said the bridge is managed by the Public Works Department (PWD), and added the teen fell from a height of nearly six metres on to the road below, suffering multiple fractures and a fatal head injury.

A case for endangering life and personal safety of others and causing death by negligence was registered under Sections 336 and 304A of the Indian Penal Code against the authority concerned. Deputy commissioner of police (northeast), Joy Tirkey, said the first information report (FIR) mentions the FOB was managed by PWD and that the agency will be asked to join the probe to determine the culpability for the negligence, if any.

"We will issue a notice to PWD, asking its officials concerned to tell us whether the FOB was being maintained by the agency or if it had given a contract for its upkeep to a private party," said DCP Tirkey.