Before Sujith, at least 10 kids died after borewells in last 15 years
Chennai, Oct 29: Two-year-old Sujith Wilson is not the only child to have met with a tragic end after falling into an abandoned borewell as at least 10 other children had died in a similar manner in Tamil Nadu over the past 15 years.
The toddler's death brought to the fore the lack of awareness on sealing unused borewells and public apathy towards taking safety measures.
Unexplicably, April 2014 saw repeat incidents of innocent children becoming victims of uncovered borewells in the state.
In September 2013, a six-year old girl child died after falling into a borewell in Pulavanpadi village in Tiruvannamalai District.
A three-year-old girl, R Madhumita, got stuck at about 30 feet of a 500-feet borewell at her father's farm at Pallagaseri village near Villupuram in April 2014.
She fell into the borewell - covered with a polythene sack - when she stepped on it accidentally while playing.
After a 19-hour long struggle, she was rescued alive by multiple teams working in tandem,but later died in a hospital.
Days after this mishap, a four-year-old boyHarshan fell into a borewell, also located in a farm at Kuthalapuri in Tirunelveli district.
Rescuers battled for more than five hours and brought the child out alive.
A day after the successful rescue,an 18-month old toddler fell into an unused borewell at Kidampalayam village, about 50 km from Tiruvannamalai.
D Sujith was playing near a farm along with some family members when he fell into it.
Stuck at about 47 feet in the 200 feet borewell, his body was taken out after 24-hours of rescue efforts.
Sujith's fall into the borewell was the third such mishap in April 2014 in Tamil Nadu. While Harshan was saved, Madhumita and Sujith were not lucky enough.
It was a "borewell robot",an indigenous device developed by a Madurai-based social worker, that saved Harshan.
In an interview to PTI, social worker M Manigandan had said that the trigger for developing the device was his son's accidental fall into a borewell in 2003 and the painful rescue efforts.
In the past about 15 years, at least 13 children have fallen into unused borewells in Tamil Nadu alone and only three of them were rescued alive.
The rescued include Harshan (2014), a three-year-old boy in 2012 at Thali in Krishnagiri district and another boy in Dindigul district in 2004.
Several such mishaps have occurred in other parts of the country as well, including neighbouring Karnataka and as recently as in June this year, when a child fell a victim in Punjab.
Two-year-old Fatehvir Singh fell into a cloth covered borewell in a farm while playing at Bhagwanpura village. The borewell was covered with a cloth on which the boy had accidentally stepped on it.
His mother desperately tried to save him, but to no avail.
Unsuccessful efforts to rescue him safely went on for about 110 hours and eventually the boy's body was pulled out of the 150-feet deep unused bore well.
As early as 2010, following several incidents of children falling into unused borewells, the Supreme Court had framed guidelines to prevent children from falling into unused borewells.
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Karnataka HM G Parameshwara rejects demand for CBI probe in cases against Prajwal Revanna
Bengaluru, May 8: Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Wednesday turned down former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s demand for a CBI probe into the sexual harassment case against JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna.
He said the state government's CID is competent enough to investigate the case.
“Kumaraswamy had raised over 100 questions. I cannot answer all of them. He had asked for the CBI probe, which we will not do. The SIT is competent. I have said that we will get a proper investigation done,” the Home Minister said.
According to Parameshwara, three people have been arrested so far in a case related to kidnapping of a woman, who is a mother of three, in which Holenarasipura JD(S) MLA and Prajwal’s father H D Revanna is also an accused and presently in the jail serving the judicial custody.
Revanna is the son of former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda. His son Prajwal, who is under investigation for multiple cases of sexual harassment of women, has reportedly fled the country and is absconding.
Regarding the progress in the investigation, the home minister said three people have been arrested, including Revanna and his aide Sathish Babanna.
He declined to share the details of the third person saying that disclosing the name would affect the investigation.
To a question whether there will be any investigation against those who leaked the videos, Parameshwara said, “We do not wish to hide anything. The probe will also cover the circulation of the pen drive.”
“Kumaraswamy has alleged that policemen have distributed it. Which police distributed it and where, are the aspects we have to look into. The SIT will decide whether to issue any notice to Kumaraswamy on his charges,” Parameshwara explained.
He said the government trusts the SIT and will wait for its report to be submitted.
On Kumaraswamy’s demand to investigate Rahul Gandhi for his statement that 400 women were raped, Parameshwara said that it would be the decision of the SIT.
On not arresting Karthik Gowda, driver of Prajwal Revanna, who is believed to have had the pen drive containing explicit videos allegedly involving the MP and several women, Parameshwara said there should be clear evidence to arrest someone.
“Until we receive evidence, we cannot arrest Karthik or Devaraje Gowda (BJP leader),” the minister said.
On giving protection to Karthik or Devaraje Gowda, Parameshwara said that protection would be extended only to the women who were victims and nobody else.
