BENGALURU : In a tragic incident, two children, siblings aged 4 years and 18 months, drowned in a water sump, while playing in an under-construction residential building at Kodigehalli near KR Puram on Thursday afternoon.The children are Naveen, 4, and his younger sister Basamma, 18 months. Their mother Kavitha and grandmother Beemavva are workers at the construction site. The KR Puram police have booked a case of negligence against the mother as the sump, was actually covered safely with wooden planks, and yet the children fell into it.
The police said the incident occurred around 12.30 pm when the kids came to play near the sump. At that time, Kavitha had gone to work at a nearby house while Beemavva was in the kitchen preparing lunch. Around 1 pm, Kavitha returned home and went in search of the kids as she did not see them around. When she checked the sump, as it was open with the wooden planks moved away, she saw both her kids in it and screamed for help.
Neighbours rushed to the spot and pulled out the children from the sump and rushed them to the hospital. However, they were declared dead on arrival.The family hails from Yadagiri in Kalaburagi district. Kavitha and her mother Beemavva were taking care of the kids. Kavitha’s husband, Mallapa, had separated from her and had returned to Yadgir to live with his first wife for the past 15 days.
The owner of the under-construction residential building, Raamu, a retired army personnel, had given a shed on the site for Kavitha’s family to stay, on humanitarian grounds. “We found no safety lapses at the spot and thus a case of negligence has been filed against Kavitha as she did not take care of the movements of the kids,” a police officer said, adding that foul play has been ruled out.