Sarpanch booked for negligence after five-year-old drowns in Sector 64

The Gurugram police have booked a village sarpanch for negligence after a five-and-a-half year old girl drowned in Medawas village in Sector 64 on Thursday.

The Gurugram police have booked a village sarpanch for negligence after a five-and-a-half year old girl drowned in Medawas village in Sector 64 on Thursday.

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The family of the girl alleged that the sarpanch did not get a boundary wall constructed following which the girl, who was playing outside the house, fell in the pond, said police.

According to the police, they received a call from hospital that a girl had died due to drowning, following which a team from Sector 65 police station visited civil hospital. The body was sent for post mortem.

Satish Kumar, father of the deceased, said that he drives an auto-rickshaw and has been living with his wife and four children in the village for the last many years. On Thursday when he returned from work around 12.30 pm, he found his younger daughter missing. “I asked my wife about the children and she said they are playing outside. Around 12.45pm all children returned home, but Madhu was nowhere to be seen. I went out in her search and found her struggling to stay afloat in the pond,” he said.

Kumar said he raised the alarm and shouted for his brother. They jumped inside and fished the girl out. She was still breathing “We took her to a private hospital in Badshahpur, where doctor declared her brought dead,” he said.

The pond has no boundary walls and the villagers have several times requested the sarpanch to get it constructed as its risked the lives of children playing in the area. But all their requests apparently fell on deaf ears, the father of the victim alleged.

A case under section 304 A(causing death by negligence) was registered against Brahm Prakash Tyagi, village sarpanch at Sector 65 police station on Thursday, said police.

Tyagi said that the families are living on unauthorised area adjacent to the pond and authorities have multiple times asked them to vacate the area. “Police have booked me for negligence but I played no role nor was I in the village when the incident took place. This is shocking that a sarpanch is held responsible for anyone’s death in the village. The parents should equally be held responsible and when they knew there is no boundary wall, why did they allow their child to play there,” Tyagi said.

The body was handed over to the family members after the post mortem, said police.