BENGALURU: A four-year-old girl drowned in an open water sump at an under construction site in HSR Layout on Saturday evening. The house owner Pratap Reddy has been booked on charges of negligence.
Police said Amrutha was the younger daughter of Anjaneyalu and Padma. The couple hail from Andra Pradesh and work as daily wage labourers in Muneshwaranagar.
The family had moved to the city five months ago and worked on the premises of Pratap Reddy where he had provided them a shed.
A senior police officer said that the incident took place around 6.30pm. The girl was playing by herself on the premises. Anjaneyalu had gone to buy groceries while Padma was busy with chores along with her elder daughter. Police said Amrutha fell into an open overflowing sump and drowned.
After a while when Padma calle dout to Amrutha, she could not find the child anywhere and started searching for her. Soon, neighbours too joined Padma in the search. Almost an hour later, the child’s body was found floating near the sump. HSR Layout police were alerted about the incident and the body was taken for postmortem.
“The site owner Pratap Reddy did not ensure safety measures on the premise. The pit was dug to store water. Due to heavy rains it was overflowing and the child did not notice the open pit as it was not covered. Thus a case of negligence has been filed against him and further investigations are on,” the officer added.
Previous incidents
September 2014
Prajwal (2) drowned in a sump in Lalbagh
September 2012
Wajid Pasha (8) was found in an open sump in an under-construction building in
DJ Halli
June 2012
Nikitha (6) drowned in a sump in an under construction building at Shivapura in Peenya
March 2012
Jack (4)drowned in a sump near his residence in Rajajinagar.
February 2012
K Thanmay (5) drowned in a sump in Nelamangala. His mother jumped into the sump to rescue him and was saved by neighbours.