Himalaya Harbinger, Rudrapur Bureau.
Rudrapur: What was meant to be a sacred day of celebration turned into a heart-wrenching tragedy for the Mandal family, as their four-year-old daughter Trisha lost her life under the wheels of a school bus. It was only her third day at Anand Public School located in Pipaliya number 2 in Gadarpur of district Udham Singh Nagar.
On the eighth day of Navratri—a time when little girls are worshipped as divine—Trisha was returning home from school when she slipped while getting off the school bus and came under its rear tyre. Though her family rushed her to the district hospital, doctors declared her dead on arrival. Trisha’s father Tapas Mandal said, “My mother had gone to the bus stop to receive my daughter. As the students boarded off the bus, Trisha was the last to step out but before she could get off the bus, the driver drove the bus. Trisha hit the railing on the conductor’s seat and then fell on the road and the bus ran over her.
The bus driver fled the scene and remains absconding. Locals, overcome with grief and rage, have demanded immediate action against the driver and the school management. They are also urging the administration to cancel the school’s recognition, citing negligence.
“She was dressed in her school uniform and looked beautiful while all excited for school,” sobbed her mother Deepa Mandal. “Who knew this would be her last day?”
