6-year-old drowns to death in rainwater-filled sludge pit

HYDERABAD: Unseasonal rains continue to lead to deaths, the latest being that of a six-year-old boy, who drowned in a large pit in a privately-owned plot near his residence in Jubilee Hills on Tuesday morning. The pit, about 30 feet wide and five feet deep, was used to store cow dung and wastewater from a cattle shed located on the plot.

The incident took place at 10.40 am, when the victim, Raidu Vivekananda, was playing with a friend. He slipped and fell into the pit while trying to retrieve a stick and drowned.

According to the police, his friend, Seshu, ran to Vivekananda’s house but it was locked. He then went to a motorcycle showroom in the vicinity, where Vivekananda’s father Bheemshankar works as an assistant security guard.

Bheemshankar went to the pit but couldn’t find his son. He called the police.

Jubilee Hills sub-inspector M.M. Rakesh said: “I received a call at 10.55 am from the main police control room (PCR) and went to the spot. As the pit was large and filled with sludge, I called the fire department. Their tender sucked out the water and we recovered the victim’s body.” He said that Vivekananda was stuck in the sludge.

The police said that the plot owner, P. Davender, owner of a jewellery store, had constructed a cow shed two years ago and fenced the plot. However, a part of it was broken open by miscreants, through which the two boys had entered the plot.

The Jubilee Hills Police registered a case under Section 174 (suspicious death) of the CrPC and Section 304(A) (death due to negligence) of the IPC, and send the boy’s body to Osmania Hospital for an autopsy.

According to the victim’s relatives, the family were from Gopalabalam in Kakinada of Andhra Pradesh and had moved to Hyderabad seven years ago.

“Bheemshankar and the boy’s mother, Lovkumari Raidu, had married 13 years ago. They were staying in a rented room near Road No. 45 of Jubilee Hills and both worked at the motorbike showroom,” said G. Rani, an aunt of the victim.

She said that Lovkumari fainted upon seeing her son’s body and was in a state of shock since.

“Vivek was their only son. He was a fan of Telugu film star Mahesh Babu. He was a bright student of a government school in Jubilee Hills,” Rani said.

This is the third death due to negligence reported over the past four days in the city

April 29: Twelve-year-old P. Moniuka fell into a hole dug up for nala works in Kalasiguda, swept away by the fast-flowing water in the drain.

May 1: Greyhounds counter-insurgency police constable Veera Swamy electrocuted near Jubilee Hills check post, after his bike skidded on a slippery road, rammed into a footpath and came into contact with an electricity transformer pole.