11-year-old in Jaipur dies after falling in a pit filled with rain water, family demands action against civic body

Family members of an 11-year-old boy who drowned to death in a pit in a Vidhyadhar Nagar Sector-7 park on Wednesday blamed the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) for his death. accusing the civic body of negligence.

Mohammad Faizan , a resident of B-block of sector 8 in Vidhyadhar Nagar in Jaipur allegedly died after he fell into the pit dug up to build a badminton court in Shiv Park, sector – 7, more than half-a-kilometre away from his house.

The pit which was between 7.8 feet and 8 feet high was allegedly filled to the brink with water after the pre-monsoon rains on Tuesday.

The family members, relatives and neighbours have accused the civic body of negligence. Father of the deceased boy, Shaukat Ali (38), who manufactures and sells glass and lac bangles for a living, said, “My son’s life could have been saved if the officials concerned had covered up the pit.”

“The officials of the civic body did not bother to cover the pits of the badminton court which has been under construction for the last three months.

Today my son died, but the officials don’t realise my pain as the tragedy has not happened to their kids. Safety for them is a joke,” said Ali.

“Is filling the pits of around 2000 square feet park a big task for government officials?,” asked Ali. “They didn’t cover up the pit even after it was filled with water after the rains. It’s criminal negligence on part of JMC officials. They should be brought to book,” said Ali.

The incident took place on Tuesday and Faizan’s body was found on Wednesday. His elder brother Mohammad said Faizan left the house on Tuesday morning between 10.30 am and 11am. “Faizan wanted to play in the rain. He was with us till 11pm. After which he disappeared,” said Afzal. When Faizan didn’t return till noon, the family members began the search. “We looked for him everywhere including the same garden from where his body was eventually recovered the next day. We looked at every pit. After that we went to other sectors, railway station, Sindhi Camp bus stand, but could not find him. After that we informed the police and registered a missing person’s report,” added Afzal.

Then on Wednesday morning, around 11 am, Ram Kumar Gupta, a cylinder distributer spotted the body in the pit after some workers alerted him. “I immediately informed the police. The pit was filled with water at least two feet deep,” said Gupta.

The fact that the pit had water only two feet deep has raised suspicion among the boy’s family about the nature of his death. Faizan was 4.5 feet.

Radha Raman, Station house officer (SHO), Vidhyadahar Nagar police station ruled out the possibility of murder, but added that he was awaiting the post-mortem report.

“No injury marks were found on the body of Faizan. Prima facie it doesn’t appear to be a case of murder. But more clarity would come after the post-mortem report comes,” said Raman.

For the distressed family members of Faizan , however, several questions remain unanswered. “I don’t understand how my son reached the park,” said Shaukat Ali.

“He has never gone there in the past. How did he reach so far alone? How could a boy with a height around 4.5 feets die in a pit where water was filled only up to two feet?” God knows the truth.

SHO Raman said that, “On Tuesday, there was decent amount of rainfall in the city. All the nearby pits too were filled with water. May be the water level must was receded the next day, when people spotted the boy’s body. But still we are investigating the matter.”

The family members have demanded a case of criminal negligence be registered against the responsible civic officials and contractor involved in the work.