Girl dies on spot as rock fragment from boulder blasted illegally hits head

A 10-year-old girl grazing goats with her mother was killed on the spot after a piece of rock from a boulder, illegally blasted with gelatin sticks 200 metres away, hit her head on Sunday evening near Vikravandi.

- BAGALAVAN PERIER B

After the incident sparked tension in the locality, police on Monday arrested a 45-year-old villager on the charge of illegally using gelatin sticks to clear a boulder in a canal for dredging.

The police are also questioning the president of Thirukunam panchayat Prakash upon whose suggestion the villager allegedly used gelatin sticks to clear the boulder.

According to police, E Gayathri of Thirukunam Madura T Kosapalayam village, a Class 5 student of a government school, had joined her mother E Muthulakshmi in grazing goats on land owned by P Krishnamurthy on Sunday as it was a holiday.

After the child collapsed at the spot, locals, who heard the woman's cry, informed the Kanjanur police.

Vikravandi sub-division DSP G Nandakumar and a police team from Kanjanur rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry.

The body was sent to Villupuram Medical College and Hospital in Mundiyampakkam for autopsy.