6-yr-old girl drowns in deep pit dug in UP's Shahjahanpur

• A six-year-old girl drowned after she accidentally fell into a large pit dug by a brick kiln owner in ​​UP's Shahjahanpur for illegal land mining
• The victim's father said the pit was dug without permission near his house
• An FIR has been registered against the owner of the brick kiln under IPC 

A six-year-old girl drowned on Thursday evening after she accidentally fell into a large pit dug by a brick kiln owner in Sindhauli area of ​​Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur for illegal land mining.

The victim, a resident of Mudia village and a Class I student had gone to herd her goats when she fell into the pit. Her family found the body floating in the water later that night, police said.

The victim's father, Amit Kumar (32), a farmer, said the pit was dug without permission near his house. "The owner of the brick kiln, Mohammed Aamir, has dug several pits in the area for mining soil. Most of the pits are 12 feet deep. We raised the issue several times before the village panchayat and informed the police, but no action was taken." Pits pose a threat to the safety of local residents, especially children,” he said.

Sindhauli police station SHO Mahendra Singh Yadav said, "An FIR has been registered against the owner of the brick kiln under Section 304A of the IPC (causing death by negligence) on the complaint of the victim's parents. The body has been sent for post-mortem." We will ensure that the deep pits in the area are covered to prevent such a tragedy in the future."

This is not an isolated incident in the region. In August 2022, two children drowned in a pit dug by a brick kiln owner in Shahjahanpur's Mirzapur area. Similarly, in Sambhal district, on August 5, three children of the same family drowned in a deep pit near a brick oven.