PALAKKAD: The driver of a car, who agreed to take a grievously injured 12-year-old boy to hospital after knocking him down, abandoned him midway on the pretext of having a flat tyre. He has been arrested by the police for causing the boy's death.
Sujith, son of Sudevan of Kurumandampallam in Nallepilly, was standing by the roadside near Kaithakuzhi when a car hit him. The driver stopped and agreed to take the seriously injured Sujith to the hospital in the company of a local, Paraman.
Though Paraman informed the driver Abdul Nazar about a hospital in Chittur, just 5km away from the spot, the latter sped towards Palakkad. Along the way, Nazar stopped and told Paraman his car had a flat tyre.
Valuable time was then lost as the boy had to be taken in another car which came that way to a private hospital in Nattukal near Chittur. Sujith breathed his last an hour later.
The Kasaba police said that a case has been registered against Nazar, 34, son of Hussein, Pilakkal house, Puthenathani, under Section 304, IPC - culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Motor Vehicles Department officials said that Nazar's licence will be suspended. The car that belongs to Nazar's friend Ashraf, a resident of Puthenathani in Malappuram, has also been taken into custody.
The incident happened around 4.30pm on Thursday.
Sujith, a seventh standard student of AUP School in Appupillayar, had gone after classes to his ancestral house at Erattakulam where there were some rituals in connection with his grandfather's death.
After leaving his bag in the house, he went to nearby Kaithakuzhi to play and was standing by the roadside when the car hit him.
Sujith is survived by parents Sudevan and Radha and brother Suraj.