ROURKELA : Vehicular traffic was disrupted for over three hours along the main road in Dharuadihi village under Sundargarh’s Sadar block after irate locals blocked the stretch protesting the death of a 26-month-old girl in a road accident the previous evening.
The deceased toddler was identified as Kusima Kechhu. Following her death, the child’s father donated her eyes at the Sundargarh district headquarters hospital (SDHH).
As per reports, Kusima along with her parents, mother Tikeswari (35) and father Jaikumar (38), was standing on the roadside near a gupchup cart at around 7 pm on Friday when a speeding car hit the girl and her mother. The family belongs to bordering Banki village in Laikera block of Jharsuguda district.
While the child died on the spot, her mother was rushed to the Sundargarh Government Medical College & Hospital (SG MCH) at Sundargarh town in a critical condition. The toddler’s body was preserved at the SDHH for postmortem examination.
Meanwhile, as the news of her death spread, angry villagers resorted to road blockade at around 11 am on the day by burning tyres, demanding compensation for the aggrieved family.
Owing to the widespred protest, vehicular traffic on the stretch came to a total standstill. Though the police and district administration officials tried to restore normalcy, it proved futile. The angry protestors were on the streets urging that their demands be heard and the compensation provided to the family.
The protest was called off after Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh provided compensation of Rs 50,000, while additional compensation of Rs 30,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 20,000 were given by the Sundargarh truck owners’ association, the owner of the car involved in the accident and Red Cross Society respectively.
Sundargarh sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Nirmal Mohapatra said normalcy was restored at around 2 pm.
“The owner of the car involved in the road accident has been detained and the vehicle has also been seized. An unnatural death case was registered and the toddler’s body was returned to the family after a postmortem,” he said adding, condition of the child’s mother is stable.
Meanwhile, sources in the deceased’s family informed the child and her parents had come to attend the weekly market at Dharuadihi in Sundargarh where the mishap occurred. Following the toddler’s death, her father donated her eyes at the SDHH.