BENGALURU: A woman and her nine-month-old baby were electrocuted after coming in touch with a snapped electric wire lying on the pavement. The incident happened at Hope Farm junction on Whitefield Main Road Sunday morning at 6 am.

The two dead have been identified as Soundarya (23) of AKG Colony near Channasandra, and Suvikshaliya. Soundarya’s husband Santhosh Kumar, an IT employee, was with them at the time of the incident. Though he tried to save them, he was helpless.

Dr Shivakumar Ganare, deputy commissioner of police informed that the death of Soundarya and her baby was due to the negligence of the officials of Bescom, electricity distribution company in Bengaluru. He told the media that a case under IPC Section 304A has been registered against the officials and three persons have been summoned for questioning.

The family had gone to Salem in Tamil Nadu to celebrate Diwali. They reached Bengaluru by bus and got off near Hope Farm Junction. Soundarya was carrying her daughter and a bag while Kumar was carrying a trolley. Police said Soundarya accidentally stepped on the wire lying snapped on the pavement.

The bodies have been shifted to the nearby Vydehi Hospital for post-mortem. Police said a case has been registered against five persons, including executive engineer Sriram and assistant executive engineer Subramani of Whitefield Sub-Division Bescom, assistant engineer Chetan and staff Rajanna and Manju.