A 42-year-old owner of a supermarket was arrested on Sunday in connection with the death of a teenager who was crushed by a moving elevator.
The victim Sathyam, 16, a Class 10 dropout, was shifting goods from the first floor of the building to the elevator to be moved up when it started rising even as the youth had his head jutting out.
“Since the elevator did not have any door, Sathyan was yelling out to his colleague from the moving lift when his head crashed on the roof and he was thrown down,” police said.
“The teenager who went into a comatose state was rushed to the nearest hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.”
The boy’s funeral procession turned violent late Saturday as it passed the supermarket. “A few of his relatives hurled stones at the supermarket following which the family staged a protest,” police said.
Police rushed to the spot and assured the protesters that action would be taken and insisted that they proceed with the funeral.
On Sunday, the police arrested G. Rajasekaran (42), owner of Bharathi Supermarket, for indirectly causing the death of the teenager and booked him under Sections 304 (2) and 287 of the IPC.
Later, inspection by revenue officials revealed that Rajasekaran had not obtained licence for operating an elevator in the supermarket. The store has been closed for the past two days and is expected to be sealed until all safety measures are followed.
Sathyan, who lived with his grandmother, was preparing to re-appear for the Class 10 exams and had joined the supermarket as a staff just over a month ago.