8-year-old girl found dead in school sump

BENGALURU: An eight-year-old girl was on Tuesday found dead in a sump at her government school in Pattandur Agrahara, Whitefield, southeast Benglauru.
The incident came to light when police and the child’s parents were searching for the class III student, who went missing on Monday evening. The search party was scouring the school premises when it found the girl’s body floating in the 10-foot deep sump.Suzaina Swamy, the only daughter of construction labourers Swamy S and Narasamma, had been admitted to the school last year. It’s next to the construction site where her parents worked.
Police said there was no external injury on the body or any signs of scuffle. “We suspect Suzaina went near the sump to fetch water after having lunch. She may have slipped into it and drowned. We will decide the future course of action only after receiving the postmortem report,” police said.
Speaking to the media, Suzaina’s father said they lodged a missing complaint with Mahadevapura police on Monday night. “Usually, Suzaina would come home by 3pm. On Monday afternoon when she didn’t return, we went to the school gate at 5pm but it was locked. After searching in the neighborhood, we approached police,” he said.
Mahadevapura police and the couple arrived at the school on Tuesday morning to search for the girl.
“My daughter’s school bag was found on her desk. It was empty, indicating that she had eaten lunch,” said an inconsolable Narasamma.
FATAL STEPS
June, 2014: Class III student S Shravani, 8, was playing in the portico of her Udayanagar residence, east Bengaluru when she accidentally fell into an open sump.
June 2013: Class I student S Nitin, 6, drowned in sump located opposite his house in B Channasandra, Ramamurthynagar, east Bengaluru
March 2013: Two cousins drowned in a sump at an under-construction building in New Binny Layout, west Bengaluru. Bharath Ravi Gowda, 7, and Gagan Avinash, 6, were playing cricket