Three schoolgirls aged between 13 and 14 years, including two sisters, allegedly drowned in a seasonal rivulet (khad) near Bangana in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district Thursday. The victims were identified as Khushi, daughter of Manjeet; and Komal and Sonakshi, daughters of Ajay Kumar. All three were Class 5 students at a local school. The police said that according to eyewitnesses, the girls had gone to the rivulet near Chaproh village in Balh panchayat to wash their school bags. While doing so, one of them slipped into deep waters. The other two entered the stream in an attempt to rescue her, but were also swept under. When the girls failed to return home by evening, their families began searching for them. During the search, a slipper was found on the rivulet’s bank. A little further downstream, villagers discovered the bodies of the three girls. They were rushed to the local Adarsh Hospital, Thanakalan, where doctors declared them dead. Surinder Singh, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Una, said no foul play is suspected in the incident. “The victims’ parents have also not raised any suspicion. The bodies have been kept for post-mortem at the Civil Hospital in Una, where a board of doctors will conduct the autopsies,” he said. “Locals frequently go to the rivulet for washing clothes and take their cattle to drink water there,” the ASP added. The police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Meanwhile, villagers have urged the administration to take safety measures at dangerous spots along the rivulet to prevent such tragedies in the future. Local MLA Vivek Sharma, who represents the Kutlehar constituency in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, visited the aggrieved families. “It is a serious issue. I will take up this matter with the state government,” he said.
