Kochi's roads have always been notorious for their lawlessness. Anyone who uses public transport will agree that the same chaos reigns inside the city's buses as well. The reckless approach of Kochi’s private buses once again came to the fore on Monday when a girl student was pushed off the vehicle by a bus conductor. Fathima Farhana, a 17-year-old Plus Two commerce student of Cardinal Higher Secondary School, Thrikkakara, was pushed off by the conductor of SMS bus while alighting the bus at 5 pm in Judge Mukku here. The bus plies between Pookattupadi and Ernakulam route.
The student was taken to Medical Trust Hospital and severe injuries have been diagnosed on her hipbone. Though the bus workers tried to drive away from the crime scene, the public blocked the bus.
The parents and school officials filed a case against the bus workers at Thrikkakara police station. “We have recorded the statement of the student and will file the FIR by tomorrow. We will register a case against the unidentified bus conductor and driver. Our officials have already initiated the steps to seize the bus,” said Saju S Das, SHO, Thrikkakara Police Station. Meanwhile, the parents accused that the attitude of bus workers haven’t changed in recent times and Fathima is the victim of their reckless approach. “Fathima has been severely injured at the hip bone and the doctor has suggested a month-long rest to recover from the scratches.
Though school PTA has approached the bus owners and officials on numerous occasions to solve the issue, nothing has happened. It is my daughter who is going to suffer due to their brutal attitude and we hope it will be the last of it’s kind in the area,” said Thaslima N, mother of Fathima.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Sr Lucy PM, principal of the school said, “We have asked the bus workers to carry 10 students on each trip to reduce the rush. As we are admitting students through single-window process, girls from far away places such as Udayamperoor, Aluva and Desam are studying at our school. We have even regulated our working time till 4.30pm for their convenience. But many of them are reaching home only by 7pm due to bus workers’ actions. Though traffic police’s pink patrolling is available, the service usually wound up by 4pm as per the high school timings.”
