Couple, 8-year-old granddaughter electrocuted to death at construction site in Belagavi

BELAGAVI: Three members of a Lambani family, including an eight-year-old girl, working as labourers on a construction site, were electrocuted to death on Saturday morning after coming in contact with a live wire.

The deceased are Erappa Gangappa Rathod (55), his wife Shantavva Erappa Rathod (50) and their granddaughter Annapurana Honnappa Lamani (8). The family hailed from Araganchi tanda in Ramadurg taluk.

The girl was trying to switch on the water pump when she was electrocuted.

Erappa and his wife were working as a watchmen at a construction site in Shahunagar and the granddaughter was staying with them to pursue studies. Annapurna was a Class 2 student at the Government Kannada School in Shahunagar.

Early in the morning, Annapurna went to switch on the water pump to cure the walls when she suffered an electric shock. Hearing her screams, Erappa and Shantavva rushed to her rescue, but were also electrocuted and died on the spot.

The bodies were shifted to the district hospital for autopsy and the district administration has announced relief for the next of kin on the directions of ministers Satish Jarkiholi and Lakshmi Hebbalkar. The Belagavi APMC police have registered a case against the house owner Sarojini Narasimhannavar, the site engineer and Hescom for negligence