TIRUNELVELI: A Class 10 girl died of injuries at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital on Tuesday, four days after a college bus, allegedly driven under the influence of alcohol, rammed the autorickshaw in which she was travelling near Suthamalli.
The deceased, Selvabala (15) of Pazhavoor village, was a student of a private school at Pettai near Suthamalli. She had been on ventilator support since her admission but died without responding to treatment on Tuesday morning.
Sources said the accident occurred on the morning of February 20 when Isakkiyappan (30) of VOC Nagar near Suthamalli Vilakku, a driver employed by a private engineering college in Thachanallur, drove the bus under the influence of alcohol. While proceeding on the Tirunelveli–Kadayam road near Viswanathan Nagar, the bus reportedly rammed an autorickshaw from behind at high speed.
The impact caused the autorickshaw to overturn on the roadside. The autorickshaw driver, Manakkavalaperumal (49) of Nadukkallur, and three students, Yasvani (15) of Suthamalli, Selvabala (15) of Pazhavoor, and Muthu Arul (15), sustained injuries in the accident.
The Suthamalli police had earlier registered a case and arrested Isakkiyappan. Following Selvabala’s death, the case has been altered to include relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The bus driver, who was earlier booked on charges of "attempt to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder", has now been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.