Mira-Bhayandar: A week after the tragic incident in which a six-year-old boy lost his life after drowning into a rainwater filled pit located in a private property in the coastal area of Uttan near Bhayandar, the police have registered an offence against the three land owners for causing death due to negligence.
The incident was reported from an open compound located behind a bungalow in Uttan on July 17. The deceased boy identified as- Kiran Harshad Kolhar (6) who stayed with his parents in Kashimira had come to spend some days at his maternal grandmother's house in Uttan.
According to the statement given by the boy’s mother, Kiran along with his cousins had gone out to play. While his cousins came back home, Kiran failed to return, following which his relatives started searching for him and found his slipper near a pit which was filled with rainwater. Suspecting that the child might have gone to play in the water, the fire brigade personnel were informed who immediately reached the spot and retrieved his body from the pit.
Initially an accidental death report (ADR) was registered at the Uttan coastal police station. Information sourced from the revenue department and ownership display board on the plot revealed that the land belonged to the accused identified as- Wasim Shaikh, Mohammed Azam Mustafa Shaikh and Sahiba Azam Shaikh.
The 8-feet deep pit which was apparently dug-up for some construction activity had been left uncovered with no proper safety measures like compound wall or fencing to prevent mishaps. Notably, people living in the vicinity of the bungalow had warned one of the landowners about the impending danger while requesting to either cover the pit or install safety barriers.
However, the requests and warnings were brazenly ignored leading to the mishap. Meanwhile an offence under sections 106 (1) (whoever causes death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide) and 3(5) (joint criminal liability when two or more individuals act with a common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered against the trio.
However, none of them have been arrested so far. This is the second such incident which has been reported from the twin-city in the past less than a month. On June, 21, a five-year-old boy identified as- Shreyans Monu Soni lost his life after accidentally falling into an uncovered water-filled dug at the construction site which had been earmarked to set-up a bio-gas plant in Kashimira.