Raisen: A woman and her 12-day-old daughter were crushed to death in Raisen in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday evening by a bus that swerved sharply to avoid hitting a cow, a police official said.

The woman, identified as Rekha Bai, and her daughter Devi were sitting outside their house near a petrol pump in Naktara village, some 15 kilometres from the district headquarters, when the incident took place, Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Alok Shrivastava told reporters.

“In order avoid hitting a cow, the passenger bus, which was on its way to Bhopal from Sagar, swerved sharply, hitting a motorcycle and then running over Rekha Bai and the infant. Both died on the spot. The motorcycle rider fell after the bus hit him and sustained minor injuries,” the SDOP said.

The driver of the bus, Chhotu Kushwaha of Sagar, fled from the spot, while enraged residents vandalised the vehicle before personnel from Naktara outpost and Devanagar police station reached the site and brought the situation under control, Shrivastava said.

A case was registered against the bus driver and efforts are on to nab him, the official added.