Tragic School Bus Accident Claims Lives of Two Toddlers in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, February 11, 2026 – In a heart-wrenching incident that has left a police constable’s family shattered and sparked renewed concerns over road safety, two young cousins were fatally run over by a private school bus in north Bengaluru’s Thanisandra area on Tuesday morning. The victims, two-year-old Varsha and her four-year-old cousin Bhanu, were on a routine errand to fetch milk when the accident turned a peaceful residential street into a scene of unimaginable grief.
The tragedy unfolded around 8:17 am near the police quarters in RK Hegde Nagar, under the Hennur traffic police station limits. Naganagouda Malipatil, a head constable with the City Armed Reserve (CAR) Force and a native of Yadgir district, was riding his scooter with the girls perched in the front space between the seat and handlebars – a common sight in many Indian households for short local trips. Excited for the outing, little Varsha had insisted on bringing her cousin Bhanu along, turning what should have been a joyful morning ride into a nightmare.
According to eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage that has since surfaced on social media, Naganagouda had stopped his scooter at a junction to allow the oncoming school bus to pass. However, the driver, 42-year-old Marappa, allegedly made a reckless right turn on a narrow stretch, veering too close to an apartment wall before swerving left to avoid it. This maneuver caused the bus to sideswipe the stationary scooter, sending it toppling. The girls fell directly under the bus’s rear wheels, sustaining fatal injuries that led to their instant deaths. Naganagouda escaped with minor injuries but was left in profound shock, witnessing the lifeless bodies of the children who moments earlier had been chattering happily on the ride.
“The bus driver was not under the influence of alcohol,” a police officer stated during preliminary investigations. “When questioned, he stated that while taking the turn, he was very close to the apartment wall and swerved to the left to avoid hitting it.” Despite this explanation, authorities have arrested Marappa and registered a case against him under sections for causing death by negligence and rash and negligent driving. The bus, belonging to a local private school, has been impounded, and complaints have also been filed against the school management for employing drivers without adequate safety checks. The children’s bodies were taken to Yelahanka Government Hospital for postmortem examinations, with further probes underway to determine if mechanical faults or poor road conditions contributed.
Bhanu, the elder of the two, had only arrived from her hometown in Raichur four days earlier, staying with her uncle’s family in the CAR North residential quarters. Naganagouda had plans to enroll her in a city school, hoping to give her better educational opportunities. Instead, the visit ended in devastation, highlighting the fragility of life in bustling urban settings. Neighbors and colleagues, many of whom are fellow police personnel living in the quarters, rushed to the scene. They skipped their duties to support the grieving family, offering solace in a colony now enveloped in sorrow. “It’s like a dark cloud over our peaceful mornings,” one resident shared anonymously, reflecting the collective trauma that has rippled through the tight-knit community.
This incident comes amid growing alarm over road safety in Bengaluru, a city grappling with escalating traffic woes. In 2025 alone, the city recorded 4,893 accidents, a marginal increase from 4,769 the previous year, resulting in hundreds of fatalities despite a slight decline in death rates for the second consecutive year. From January to October 2025, there were 4,098 crashes, claiming 700 lives and injuring over 3,600 people – an average fatality rate of 17.1 per 100 accidents. Cases of rash and negligent driving surged by 82% in 2025, with 6,872 bookings compared to 3,774 in 2024, underscoring a culture of impunity on the roads.
School bus safety, in particular, remains a glaring concern. Recent crackdowns by Bengaluru traffic police revealed 26 drivers operating under the influence during a single inspection of 5,110 school vehicles, prompting warnings of zero tolerance for endangering children. Activists and online forums have long highlighted issues like overspeeding, improper lane changes, and lack of oversight in school transport across India, with Bengaluru’s pothole-riddled outskirts emerging as hotspots for such tragedies. As calls for stricter regulations grow – from mandatory CCTV in buses to better driver training – this accident serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of negligence.
In the quiet aftermath, as the family mourns the loss of their little ones, the city must confront whether enough is being done to protect its most vulnerable on the roads. Investigations continue, but for Naganagouda and his loved ones, the scars of that fateful morning will linger far beyond the headlines.
