A toddler has died in India after he was knocked from his mother’s arms into a vat of boiling sugar syrup by a rickshaw in a busy New Delhi street.

The 3-year-old boy, named as Dev, was boiled alive in the horrific accident after he fell into the steaming sugar liquid which was outside a sweet shop. Dev died soon after he arrived at hospital.

Unscrupulous rickshaw drivers have been a big problem in the city for some time, and the Delhi High Court has now ordered an immediate ban of the battery-powered rickshaws which often carry double the recommended four passengers at high speeds in the Indian capital.

The horrific freak accident took place on Wednesday as Dev’s mother held him in her arms while standing on a sidewalk in the Trilokpuri area of Delhi. The rickshaw allegedly crashed into Dev and his mother, knocking the child forcibly out of his mother’s arms and into the vat.

Dev’s mother told reporters:

“I was carrying Dev in my arms, when suddenly we were hit by the speeding e-rickshaw while we were standing outside a sweet shop. I lost my balance and my son fell inside the pot filled with hot syrup prepared for jalebis. I started screaming for help, but no one came forward.”

The victim’s mother also suffered from burns to her hands and arms when she pulled her son out of the boiling syrup.

The driver of the rickshaw ran from the scene after one of the worst hit-and-run incidents ever witnessed in India.

The driver fled on foot, leaving his rickshaw behind; authorities in Delhi are trying to identify him, but are finding this difficult due to the fact that the rickshaw was not registered with the city government’s transport department.

Large protests on behalf of Dev’s family have taken place outside the police station near to where the incident occurred. The demonstrators are demanding that police find the driver and take the appropriate action against him.