Five minors die in separate cases in Kolhapur & Pune districts

Kolhapur/Pune: Five minors, including a girl, were killed in separate cases of electrocution, strangulation and drowning in Kolhapur and Pune districts on Tuesday.In Kolhapur’s Kandalgaon (Karvir taluka), Std VII student Shahu Sandeep Patil (13) was electrocuted while trying to rescue his pet cat around 3pm.

Police said Shahu was having lunch at his home when an electric water pump was switched on to fill the storage tank.

“He noticed a dog chasing his pet cat outside and rushed to save it. During the commotion, he accidentally came into contact with an exposed electric wire connected to the pump and suffered a shock,” police said.He was rushed to CPR Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. His body was later sent to Shenda Park for autopsy and a case of accidental death was registered at the CPR police chowkey.In another incident, four-year-old Riyansh Uttam Patil from Sablewadi (Karvir taluka) died after falling into a pit filled with cow dung in the evening. “The child was playing behind his house when he accidentally slipped into the pit. He was rushed to CPR Hospital but succumbed to his injuries,” police said.The third fatality occurred in Ajara town, where Std VII student Aafia Jabir Sheikh (13) died after a scarf used as a makeshift swing entangled around her neck at her home on Naik Road at night.

The family said the scarf had earlier been removed by her father but was tied again in his absence.In Pune’s Shirur taluka, three-year-old Sarthak Amale, son of a farmworker family from Kinwat in Nanded, drowned after allegedly falling into a farm pond at Inamgaon around 4pm while his parents were working.The Shirur police identified the deceased as Sarthak Amale. An officer said, “Sarthak was alone and watching videos on his father’s cellphone.

When his parents no longer heard the audio from the cellphone, they went to check on him and found the boy missing. A search was launched and the boy was found in a pond. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.”The police have registered a case of accidental death.Similarly, a two-year-old Soham Lakhan Kasbe died after falling into a water-filled pit near his house at Kadamvak Vasti in Loni Kalbhor around 10am.

His parents are daily-wage workers.The boy’s mother, Shilpa (23), has lodged a complaint with the Loni Kalbhor police against the contractor who had dug up the pit for stormwater drainage work. Senior inspector Pradip Pawar of the Loni Kalbhor police told TOI, “The boy accidentally fell into the 3-foot pit and drowned while playing in front of his house. His parents and other family members were busy in household chores then.”(With inputs from Mihir Tanksale & Gitesh Shelke)