5-year-old steps off school bus, driver in a hurry runs her over in Ghaziabad

Rash driving claimed yet another life in the national capital region (NCR) on Saturday with a five-year-old kindergarten child coming under the wheels of her school bus as she was alighting from the vehicle at Mehrauli near NH-24 in Ghaziabad.

Neighbours told  that Saumya was getting down from the bus when the driver drove ahead to take a turn and the girl's head came under one of the tyres. The bus was hired by the Silver Shine School at Mahendra Enclave in Ghaziabad and had arrived to drop Saumya home around 2 pm.

"There have been two complaints against the bus driver by girl's mother but he always seemed to be in hurry. On Saturday also, Saumya was trying to get down from the bus and the driver drove the vehicle ahead in a hurry. She then fell on the road and her head got crushed under the tyres," said Prince Kumar, Saumya's neighbour.

"Her grandmother had come to take her from the drop point in Mehrauli but the incident took place instead. The bus driver and conductor were later handed over to police who arrived on spot after the locals had vandalised the bus," he added.

The police said that they have booked driver Rajveer and conductor Manju and will also check about the role of school officials after Saumya's family complained that they had flagged the erring driver to the school authorities.

Saumya's father Deepak Kashyap works in Gurgaon. She had two brothers.

"We have registered a case for rash driving and causing death by negligence against the driver and the bus conductor. Both were later arrested. According to initial investigation, the girl had stepped down but the driver backed the bus and she came below one of the front tyres



of the bus leading to her death," said Neeraj Kumar Singh, station house officer, Kavi Nagar police station.