A three-year-old girl from Ghaziabad and a seven-year-old boy from Delhi’s Samaypur Badli drowned in accumulated rainwater on Thursday as showers lashed both cities.
In the first case, police said Manvi followed her father when he left the house.
“After the family realised the girl was missing, they started looking for her. After 10 minutes or so, she was found drowned in the water outside their home,” the officer said.
At the family’s home in Sarvodaya Nagar in Ghaziabad, holding her elder daughter of five years, Khusboo (26), Manvi’s mother, was inconsolable.
Shobhit Kumar (28), her paternal uncle said, “It had been raining last night and water had filled the entire house. While Khusboo was cleaning the room after the water receded, the toddler walked outside the door and reached the lane…. Soon after, the mother saw a hand peeking out from the knee-deep water that was still accumulated outside.”
“We took her to two hospitals. She was declared brought dead,” he added.
Originally from Farrukhabad, Manvi’s father works as a vegetable vendor.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kotwali Ghaziabad) Upasna Pandey said around 2-3 ft of water had accumulated after heavy rainfall in Sarvodaya Nagar. “The girl drowned in the rainwater around 12 pm. Her body has been sent for post-mortem examination,” she added.
According to IMD, Hindon recorded 28.5 mm of rainfall and Kamla Nehru Nagar 31.5 mm in Ghaziabad on Thursday.
Anil Sharma, a local resident, claimed that this is not the first incident that such an incident had taken place. “Around four years ago, a school boy had drowned in a drain… His body was later found 1.5 km away from where he drowned.” Following the death, family members and local residents held a protest on NH 9.
In Delhi, child drowns in waterlogged vacant plot
Meanwhile, seven-year-old Rehan, a Class 3 student residing in Sanjay Colony in Delhi, drowned in a waterlogged vacant plot after he reportedly ventured into a deeper portion of the accumulated rainwater while accompanying his five-year-old brother to attend nature’s call, police said.
PTI reported that as per Rehan’s mother, while her younger son returned home, Rehan did not. “My son had gone out in the morning to attend nature’s call. When he did not come back for a long time, we informed our relatives and started searching for him,” the mother told mediapersons.
She said the family later found Rehan’s bottle placed on the stone boundary of the waterlogged plot.
“When we saw the bottle lying on the stone fence, we feared something was wrong. My brother-in-law and other family members searched the water. The plot was filled with rainwater, and my son was found inside a pit in the plot. If it were not filled with water, my son would have been alive today,” she added.
“After he was found, he was rushed to Burari Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” said a police officer. Police initiated proceedings under Section 194 of the BNSS.
A local, Phool Kumar, said, “Every year, rainwater collects here, but no authority takes action. This time, it claimed the life of an innocent child. Such places should have either been filled up or fenced so that children cannot enter.”
In another incident, a 26-year-old man allegedly drowned while swimming at the pool of Bholi Ram Public School in Najafgarh on Wednesday evening, police said.
The deceased, Rahul Rai alias Rahul Roy, a resident of Jharoda village, was declared dead at Tarak Hospital.
Police said Rahul had gone to the pool with his friends when he allegedly drowned around 5.30 pm.
“Rahul worked at a company named Interval India, which is engaged in the packaging of cardboard cartons. His body has been shifted to the RTRM Hospital mortuary for post-mortem examination,” a police officer said.
(With inputs from Sakshi Chand in Delhi)
At the family's home in Sarvodaya Nagar in Ghaziabad, cuddling her elder daughter of five years, Khusboo (26), Manvi's mother, was inconsolable.
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