CHENNAI: A pit dug for deepening the septic tank in their house turned fatal for a seven-year-old child who was buried alive after she slipped into the 10-foot-deep pit on Friday evening.
The girl’s father, who was not aware that the girl had fallen into the pit, had filled it with mud later in the evening, burying her alive, police said.
The child, S Rohitha, lived with her parents, A Selvakumar, an autodriver and S Anandhi at Kanniamman Nagar in Vanagaram near Maduravoyal.
“The girl did not go to school on Friday and was playing in the compound of the house when the incident happened,” Sub-Inspector Chellapandian said. The parents who realised that the girl was missing only late in the evening re-dug the pit after a bottle of soap water with which she was playing was found near the pit.
“It seems that only three days ago they closed the pit with a cover to prevent children from falling into it. On Friday morning, they reopened it again to fill it with mud,” according to a police officer.
Police suspect the child to have fallen inside when no one was around and fell unconscious. “The family unaware of this had filled the pit with mud. The girl, who was probably unconscious also, did not let out screams for anyone to notice,” the officer added. Later in the night, the girl was retrieved from the pit and taken to a private hospital in Porur where the child was declared brought dead. The Maduravoyal police have registered a case. “We handed over the child’s body to the family after autopsy on Saturday,” SI Chellapandian said.