MADURAI: A four-year-old girl allegedly drowned in a water tank of a private kindergarten at KK Nagar here on Tuesday.
According to police, the child, identified as Aarudra, could have slipped into the tank while playing with other children. The incident occurred around 10.30 am. Aarudra was from Uthangudi in Madurai.
The incident came to light when teachers from Sri Ilam Malalaiyar Palli (Sri Kindergarten) looked for her after she had been missing for some time and found her ‘body’ floating inside the partially-opened water tank on the ground floor of the campus.
The staff immediately alerted the fire and rescue services and the police, fished the girl out of the tank, and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where the doctors declared her dead.
The police said the school management’s failure to secure the tank with a lid is believed to have contributed to the accident. They noted that the girl was one of the 20 children participating in a summer camp organised by the playschool. No CCTV camera footage was available, police added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) G S Anitha inspected the scene. The Anna Nagar police detained the nursery school correspondent, S Divya Bathirlakshmi, along with staff members Mohana, Aishwarya, Jeyapriya, Sathyavani, Chitra, and Saritha for an inquiry.
An official team comprising RDO Shalini, DCP Anitha, and CEO Renuka ascertained that the incident happened due to the carelessness of the school staff, and sealed the school.
Following the incident, Collector MS Sangeetha announced that all schools in the district would remain closed during summer holidays, and no special class, evening class, or summer camp would be allowed. Violations would result in appropriate action, she said.
Also, the school education department plans to inspect kindergartens in the district to assess their safety measures. The Anna Nagar police have registered a case against Divya under Section 106 of BNS. Other staff may be included in the case, if necessary, the police said.
Aarudra was the daughter Amuthan and Sivanandi from Uthangudi.