8-month-old toddler found dead in rooftop water tank in Delhi, investigation underway

An eight-month-old baby drowned in a rooftop water tank of his house in east Delhi's Dallupura area on Tuesday, police said.

New Ashok Nagar police station received information from Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital regarding the admission of the baby boy by his father Pintu Kumar after he was found in the water tank of his house, a senior police officer said.

The child was declared brought dead, the officer said.

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The initial enquiry revealed that Poonam, the mother of the child, had gone outside her house leaving her three kids -- aged 4.5 years, 2.5 years, and eight months -- in the room which was latched from outside, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Priyanka Kashyap said.

When she returned, she did not find the youngest child in the room. On being searched, the child was found drowned in the tank on the roof of the building, the DCP said.

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The body of the child has been preserved in the mortuary for autopsy, she said.

Police are investigating how the child reached the roof of the building when the room was locked from the outside, a senior police officer said, adding, "We are not ruling out anything right now".

The family stays on the second floor of the building, police said.