Bengaluru: A 15-year-old girl was found dead in a sump outside a house in Bengaluru Tuesday morning. The deceased, Jyothi, had accompanied her mother, a domestic help to the house in Rajagopalanagar around 8am when she went missing and was later found in the sump. Her family has alleged that the house owners killed the girl for a ritualistic sacrifice.
"I went in to clean the house and when I checked later, I couldn't find her. I saw the family members standing on the sump while my daughter was in there. I started crying and shouting. But they told to wait for 10 minutes. I shouted for help," said Parvathamma, the mother.
The relatives allege that the house owner, Alpanath, and his relatives did not allow them to save Jyothi. "When we asked them to move, they said they are waiting for the police to arrive. We could have rescued her with a rope or saree," said Mahadeva, Jyothi's relative.
The sump was opened only when locals and the police arrived, but the girl had died by then.
"The allegation by the family is that the residents of the house closed the sump and stood on it when the girl fell inside. We don't know if she was dead or alive then. The residents allegedly said that they wouldn't open it until the police arrived. We need to investigate this. When such an incident happens, the priority is to send the victim to the hospital. There is no reason for anyone to wait for police or anybody else when there is a chance to save the person," said N Shashikumar, DCP, Bangalore North.
Three people -- Alpanath alias Anbu, Renuka and Munisamy -- have been taken into custody by the police. A case has been filed under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The police, however, said that they were not yet aware of of any ritualistic sacrifice.
Parvathamma had been serving as a domestic help at the house for the last three years, according to her relatives.
"The mother and daughter were working here. The mother saw that the girl was struggling inside, but was allegedly not allowed to rescue the girl. The residents of the house said it will become a police case. Some say they didn't allow because others could fall too. When the locals arrived, they took the girl out and rushed her to the hospital but she was declared brought dead. The family has also alleged a ritualistic sacrifice, but we did not find anything in the house that would raise such suspicion. We are investigating," said Shashikumar.
With inputs from Muniraju
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