7-year-old boy drowns in rainwater-filled plot in outer Delhi

New Delhi: A seven-year-old boy drowned in a waterlogged vacant plot in outer Delhi’s Samaypur Badli Thursday morning.Rehan was a Class III student and his family has been living in the area for around nine years.

According to police, Rehan and his five-year-old brother had gone to the plot in Sanjay Colony around 8.30am to attend nature’s call.

The child ventured into a deeper portion of the accumulated water and drowned, said police.His family eventually pulled him out of the water and took him to Burari Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Police said inquest proceedings are underway and the body had been handed over to the family.Rehan’s mother said, “When the children did not return for half an hour, we started looking for them. On CCTV cameras, we saw that he had slipped into the water.” Rehan’s aunt alleged, “The entire plot was filled with water. There are no basic facilities here. This happened because of the authorities’ negligence.”In another incident, Delhi Fire Services said it was looking for a man who had allegedly drowned in the Bawana canal in outer Delhi around 6pm.

Several drowning incidents involving children have been reported in the recent past. In April, three children aged between 8 and 11 drowned in a 15-foot-deep pond inside a DDA golf course after allegedly entering the premises to bathe. In June last year, a five-year-old boy drowned after falling into a rainwater-filled pit near his house following heavy showers in southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh.