Toddler drowns in uncovered water tank, neighbour held for negligence

Nagpur: A family was devastated after their two-year-old boy drowned in an uncovered cement water tank at Minimata Nagar on Tuesday evening. Kalamna police arrested a neighbour of the family for alleged criminal negligence causing death of the toddler.According to police, the incident occurred around 7pm on Monday when family members noticed that the boy, identified as Kush Patel, was missing and began searching the surrounding area.They discovered him unconscious inside an uncovered, ground-level cement water tank located along the road under the stairs in front of a neighbour's house.Relatives pulled the child out and rushed him first to a private hospital in the locality for initial treatment. He was then shifted to another hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.The child's uncle and complainant, Jitendra Patel (37) alleged that the neighbour, Guddu alias Imamuddin Mohammad Azharuddin Shah, 42, failed to install any safety measures such as a lid, grille, or protective netting around the water tank constructed in front of his house. "This amounted to gross negligence and irresponsibility," police said, adding that it directly contributed to the toddler losing balance, falling into the deep water, and drowning.Kalamna police registered a case under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide. "Safety precautions are needed around open water bodies, especially in residential areas where young children play freely," said senior inspector Praveen Kale.