The bodies of three missing children were recovered from a sewage treatment plant situated on the outskirts of Vijayapura in Karnataka on Monday, May 13. Their parents have alleged negligence on part of the city corporation stating that the fences were removed by a contractor for repair. The deceased, identified as Anushka Dahinde (9), her sibling Vijay Dahinde (7), and Mihir Janagouli (7), had gone missing on Sunday.
According to media reports, the children left their homes on May 12 around 10:00 am for a camel ride. After the ride, they went out in search of the camel. CCTV footage from their area captured the children's movements together. Despite a wide search by the parents, the children were nowhere to be found and a missing complaint was filed at the APMC police station.
After their bodies were found, their parents arrived at the treatment plant and blamed the city corporation for negligence. They said that such an incident would not have happened if the corporation had installed proper barricades, fences, and ensured the security guards were vigilant.
“Recently, the contractor had removed fences on the perimeter for repair work. But he did not put it back in place after the completion of work. The second reason for the tragic incident is inactive security guards. The guards should have been staying active at the site which would have helped in preventing the incident. When we tried to find out how the incident took place, we found that the CCTV camera installed at the treatment plant had become non-functional,” Sunanda Kumasi, corporator of the area told The New Indian Express and blamed the city corporation officials and the contractor for the deaths.