Chennai: In a bizarre accident, a couple buried their seven-year-old-child alive after she tripped into the now defunct septic tank, which they were closing permanently in Vanagaram near Maduravoyal, on Saturday.
The child which was blowing bubbles with soap water had tripped into the 2X2 ft septic tank. 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. They noticed their daughter, Rohitha, (7), who was playing with their son was missing for sometime since they started filling the pit. They went looking for her in the neighbourhood in vain.
After a frantic search, Selvakumar spotted the 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 moved to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital by Maduravoyal Police for a postmortem.
“The pit was at least 8 ft deep, and the child must have been engrossed in playing. The pit must have had obnoxious gases which would have been the reason the child could not raise any alarm post its fall.
“She must have swooned soon after she fell into the pit. The couple also did not notice her inside the pit since it was a narrow pit which was dark in its depth,” said a senior police officer privy to the investigation.
