Patna, Oct 2 (IANS) : Four minor girls drowned while bathing in a pond in Bankat village under the Paharpur police station area of Bihar’s East Champaran district during the Jitiya festival on Friday.
The incident triggered panic in the village, where residents had gathered for the festival celebrations.
According to an official, several women and girls from the village had gone to a local pond to bathe as part of the festival.
During the activity, the four girls reportedly moved towards a deeper section of the pond and drowned.
When the girls could not be seen for some time, villagers raised an alarm and gathered at the pond.
Local residents entered the water and conducted a search before retrieving all four girls.
They were taken to the Community Health Centre in Paharpur, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.
The deceased have been identified as Sonamati, 13, daughter of Pramod Mahto; Phulmati, 10, daughter of Pramod Mahto; Sonali Kumari, 10, daughter of Virendra Mahto; and Pratima Kumari, 12, daughter of Achhelal Paswan.
After being informed about the incident, personnel from Paharpur police station reached the village and inspected the site.
Police also spoke to the families and local residents to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The bodies were taken into police custody and sent to Motihari for post-mortem examinations.
Police said necessary legal procedures were being completed.
The deaths cast a pall of gloom over Bankat village, where Jitiya celebrations had been underway since morning.
The incident left the families of the four girls and other residents in mourning.
Following the tragic deaths of four minor girls, local villagers demanded better safety and management measures at the pond. They called for the installation of warning signs to alert people about dangerous sections of the water body.
The villagers also demanded barricading around vulnerable areas of the pond to prevent similar accidents in the future.
Meanwhile, the East Champaran district administration has initiated the process of providing compensation to the families of the deceased girls.
