A one-and-half-year old boy was killed after being hit by a private school van at Ananda Koothan in Mayiladuthurai district on Friday morning. The police identified the deceased child as Maghizhvelan. Van driver Prakash has been arrested and remanded subsequently. 

The police said the child’s mother was helping her two daughters to board the van in the morning leaving her son on the ground.  The van driver moved the vehicle unaware of the child’s movement. The toddler was knocked down and was declared dead at the Government Hospital, Sirkazhi. The A.K. Chathram police registered a case. 

The fatal accident triggered a protest by a section of people in Sirkazhi at first leading to diversion of vehicular movements. Subsequently, a “road roko” was held on the Chidambaram bypass in the evening during which the protesters demanded to the bereaved family.