A 17-year-old national champion in judo, Parithi Vigneshwaran, lost his left foot in amputation after a concrete electric pole that was being erected, fell on him at Kochadai in Madurai on Wednesday, July 27, 2023.
As the fractured ankle was severely crushed in the accident, it was amputated at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH), his mother, Theertham, said.
The boy was admitted to first year electrical and electronics engineering in a private college in Coimbatore under the sports quota.
Stating that he has been a national player, his mother, a physically-challenged woman, said he was preparing for a national event to be held in August. “He was a civil servant aspirant and wanted to become a police officer, but now he has lost his leg due to the negligence of TNEB officials,” she said.
The boy was standing at the Kochadai bus stop when TNEB workers were involved in replacing a worn-out electric pole. When a crane was engaged in erecting the new pole, the pole suddenly came down crashing and fell on him.
“He fled to safety, but his leg came under the pole. Otherwise, it would have fallen on his head,” the mother said.
Charging that TNEB officials had not taken minimum precautionary steps and had not even cordoned off the area, she said even a caution board was not placed in the vicinity.
“A man on a bike, with a child, had crossed the spot seconds before it fell down,” she said.
The single woman has been raising two children. The younger boy is studying in class 8.
Stating that her son’s dream of achieving big in sports and making a good career has been ruined by the negligence of the TNEB, she demanded that her son should be given a job in the department to compensate for his lost dreams.
The woman is working as a temporary employee in a library.
S.S. Colony police have registered a case against the crane operator and TNEB officials under Section 336 and 338 under Indian Penal Code for negligent act endangering human life or the personal safety of others.
