The incident occurred when Shivaraj was playing near the sump with his brother Manjunath, 6, a class one student of a private school.
A four-year-old son of a garment factory worker drowned in an open water sump, while his elder brother was rescued in Heggadadevanapura village near Nelamangala on Wednesday.
The deceased has been identified as Shivaraj. The incident occurred around 10.45am when Shivaraj was playing near the sump with his brother Manjunath, 6, a class one student of a private school.
Shivaraj accidentally fell into the sump. Manjunath tried to rescue his younger brother, but he too fell into the sump. Neighbours, who heard Manjunath scream, rushed to the spot and rescued the elder sibling. However, Shivaraj had drowned by the time people gathered at the spot.
The water sump is located at a site which houses a half-built building. The construction work was discontinued four years ago and the building-owner had closed the sump. However, the lid was damaged in recent days and the sump was left open.
Soon after the tragedy, villagers informed Madanayakanahalli police who rushed to the spot and shifted the body to Nelamangala Taluk Government Hospital for post-mortem. The body was handed over to the parents after post-mortem. A case of unnatural death has been registered.
Shivaraj’s parents were in the house and were preparing for Gowri Ganesha festival when the tragedy struck.
Shivaraj’s father Kariyanna is a native of Hosadurga, who settled in the village three years ago.
Child Safety
Children drowning in open sumps, wells and drains with a painful regularity speaks volumes about the apathetic attitude we nurture towards children’s safety in Bangalore. More often than not, the excuse given for such tragic incidents is lack of awareness; but do we need ‘awareness’ and ‘education’ to simply realise the risks to which the children are exposed if wells and sumps are left open knowing full well that there are kids playing close by?
One may blame the parents or relatives, but to consolidate a preventive mechanism, the authorities concerned must consider imposing stringent penalties on those responsible for such incidents out of negligence.
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