Delhi: 13-year-old boy slips into open drain, dies

A 13-year-old boy, who was walking to a playground near his house in Rajendra Park Extension in outer Delhi on Friday afternoon, slipped into an open drain and drowned, police officers probing the case said.
Police said the deceased, identified as Vikas Singh, had just returned from school and stepped out to play at around 3.45pm when he fell into the drain. They said the area surrounding the drain was mushy with mud, and the teenager could not be rescued despite repeated attempts by passersby.
Officers said a preliminary inquiry revealed that the drain comes under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Department (PWD), and that they have written to the agency. Police also said that they will file a first information report (FIR) soon, and will invoke Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections pertaining to death by negligence.
PWD did not comment on the matter.
Giving details of the case, police said the boy was a Class 6 student at a nearby government school. His father works with a private firm in north Delhi, while his mother is a homemaker.
Police said the boy left his house to go and play at around 3.45pm. “He was walking along the drain and slipped, leading to the tragic incident,” deputy commissioner of police (outer) Sachin Sharma said.
According to police, the drain is almost 2km long and is filled with waste.
“We received a distress call about a young boy drowning in the drain. Multiple police personnel were immediately rushed to the spot. A local resident, Anju Kumar, along with other people made several attempts to rescue the boy but couldn’t save him. Our staff tried to fish out the body, and later the fire brigade had to be called,” DCP Sharma said.
Kumar, who was the first on the scene, told the police that she was buying vegetables outside her house when she heard a boy screaming for help.
A police officer, quoting her statement, said, “She tried to extend her hand but could not pull him out. She then brought a wooden stick, but the boy was unable to get hold of it. A few more people came to help but they too failed, and the boy ultimately drowned.”
Fire officials said the body was recovered two hours later.
A fire official told HT, “It is a dirty drain with garbage up to the waist. Our team descended into the drain… I had to tie a rope around my body before going inside, with two of my team members holding on to the other end of the rope. The boy’s body was eventually found inside.”
DCP Sharma said, “The body has been sent to hospital for a post mortem to determine the cause of death. Proceedings are being done as per law.”
Meanwhile, local residents said that they have been demanding that civic agencies clean the drain, or make a boundary wall near it, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
“We have been suffering because of this drain for more than a decade. We have now lost hope that the civic agencies will ever clean it. We just hope that they install a safety net, grill, fence or boundary wall. This is not the first incident. There are many young boys and girls who have fallen into it… The boy was only walking nearby when he slipped in and died,” Sanjay Jain, a resident, said.