Bengaluru: Four-year-old who fell into burning garbage at police quarters dies

Bengaluru: A four-year-old girl died of burns which she had sustained after falling into a burning garbage pile on the premises of Shivajinagar Police Quarters over a fortnight ago.

The deceased, Harshali, was the daughter of a traffic police constable at the Cubbon Park police station, Lokeshappa. The incident took place on March 5 and Harshali died on March 13.

But her death came to light only on Monday after Lokeshappa sent a message on WhatsApp seeking justice for his daughter, which went viral.

Harshali, who stayed at the police quarters, was playing on the premises along with her friends. Around 5.30 pm on March 5, she was near the burning garbage pile and fell into it. The girl, who was on fire, ran to road shouting for help. A passerby, Subash, poured water on her, doused the fire and rushed her to Bowring Hospital.

Harshali, who had sustained 30 percent burns, was later shifted to Victoria Hospital, where she was under treatment till breathing her last on March 13.

Surprisingly, the jurisdictional Shivajinagar police officials had only registered a non-cognisable report and did not find it necessary to visit the spot. It was only after the WhatsApp post by Lokeshappa went viral on Monday that a police team visited the spot and registered a case.

Meanwhile, the residents of the quarters blamed the authorities for lack of maintenance on their premises and held them responsible for the girl's death.

The quarters have no proper garbage disposal system, and the garbage collected from the houses is dumped in an empty plot and set on fire every day. The issue was brought to the notice of authorities on several occasions, but was never addressed, the residents complained.