By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – A 14-year-old boy died after he was electrocuted in Barangay Robles, La Castellana, Negros Occidental last Wednesday.
Police withheld the name of the minor-victim.
Police Captain Rhojn Darell Nigos, town police chief, said the victim and their 27-year-old neighbor were hired to prune the branches of a mango tree.
In fact, the victim had already done his job and was already paid by their neighbor, Nigos said.
But the neighbor was probably not satisfied, thus, he again requested the victim to trim some remaining branches of the tree.
The victim followed the instruction and climbed up the tree again. However, one of the branches touched an open electrical wire that caused him to be electrocuted.
The victim was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.
Nigos said the victim’s neighbor surrendered to the police and may be charged for child labor, since the victim’s parents reportedly did not know about the said contract.
Nigos said they will also try to check if there’s negligence on the part of the victim’s family, as they were unaware of the teenager’s activity.
