In a tragic accident, a couple buried alive their seven-year-old-child after she tripped into a septic tank in Chennai on Saturday.
The child had tripped into the 2X2 ft septic tank which her parents were closing permanently in Vanagaram near Maduravoyal. Police said Selvakumar, an autorickshaw driver, resident of Kanniyamman Nagar in Vanagaram, and his wife Anandhi, decided to close down the septic tank by filling it with rubble since they had come under the coverage of sewer connections by metro water.
They left open the lid of the septic tank in the morning, and went to bring rubble and mud from the neighbourhood to cover the pit. Her parents filled the tank with sand, unaware she had fallen in. On noticing that their daughter, Rohitha was missing, they went looking for her in the neighbourhood in vain.
After a frantic search, Selvakumar spotted a soap bubble bottle, which his daughter was playing with earlier in the day. He hurried himself into the pit and searched only to find the lifeless body of his daughter from the pit.
The body was retrieved with the help of Fire and Rescue Services Personnel, and was rushed to a private hospital nearby, where she was declared dead on arrival. The body was moved to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital by Maduravoyal Police for a postmortem.
“The pit was reportedly 8 ft deep and might have raised noxious gases, which would explain why the child did not call out for help,” said a senior police officer to the Deccan Chronicle.