Toddler dies after falling into uncovered drain

Meerut: A two-and-a-half-year-old girl died after allegedly slipping into an uncovered drain while playing with other children in Sapnawat village of Hapur district on Friday. The incident came to light on Monday after the family filed a complaint on the chief minister's grievance portal, seeking action against those responsible and demanding that the drain be covered to prevent similar incidents.Hapur district magistrate Abhishek Pandey told TOI that a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. "A team visited the site and found that the drain was open and shallow. The village head submitted photographs showing that it was cleaned from time to time. However, it is unfortunate that the child slipped into it and died," he said.The victim, Siddhi Thakur, went missing from her home on Friday afternoon while playing outside with other children. When she did not return, family members began searching for her in the neighbourhood and later found her inside the drain near the house. She was pulled out immediately, but had already died by then.The family alleged that local police persuaded them to bury the body without conducting a post-mortem examination, telling them that "the procedure would involve opening the body". They also claimed the drain had remained open and uncleared for a long time despite repeated complaints to local authorities."Since 2023, I have filed multiple complaints about the open drain on the CM's portal as well as with local officials, but no action was taken. I have copies of all the complaints," said Gaurav Thakur, victim's father.He also alleged negligence by the village head. "We submitted several complaints to the village head, but he ignored them, saying that since we didn't vote for him, why should he work for us," Thakur claimed.