HYDERABAD: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials on Sunday said the death of 12-year-old Sumedha Kapuria last week may not have been due to drowning in a nala in Neredmet, as circumstances at the time of her death do not substantiate the theory.
The officials maintained that there was no way she could have drowned in the canal and was washed way for over two kilometre since, on that day in the area, there was very little rain and the nala had little water.
Officials proffered this theory after the police and the people who live in the area had blamed the civic bodyfor the mishap.
Officials ruled out death by drowning, saying that on the day of the incident, water in the nala was only four-feet deep, and from the surface of the water to the bottom of the nala, the depth was hardly one foot.
“How could the girl be washed way to the far-off Banda Cheruvu lake? On top of it, even if she was carried along the current, there was no way the she could have reached the lake as, along the the course of the nala, several cables and pipelines are there, which could have resulted in the body getting stuck somewhere,” a GHMC official said.
“If the girl was swept away, the body should have had external injuries, but there were none. The police investigation is in progress, they are trying to reconstruct what happened and are inquiring into the incident from different possible angles, including kidnapping,” the official added.
If the police investigation reveals that the GHMC was at fault, then we will consider paying ex-gratia to the family, GHMC officials said.
Dasoju Sravan wants KTR booked for murder
AICC spokesperson Dasoju Sravan alleged that the death of 12-year-old Sumedha was not an accident, but an institutional murder committed by an incompetent government.
Stating that the girl died due to GHMC’s negligence, Sravan demanded that MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao, Mayor Bonthu Rammohan and Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav be booked for murder.
A TPCC delegation led by Shravan visited Sumedha’s family at Deendayal Nagar in Malkajgiri on Sunday.
They extended condolences to her parents Sukanya and Abhijeet. Speaking to the media afterwards, Sravan said, “It is extremely sad to hear that Sumedha, who had a bright future ahead, lost her life due the civic body’s negligence. Isn’t covering naalas the basic duty of the GHMC?”