UP: 2 children die, 2 feared drowned during religious rituals

Chandauli/Deoria (UP), Sep 14 (PTI) Two children were feared drowned in Chandauli, while two others lost their lives, and one girl was critically injured in separate incidents in Deoria during the Jivitputrika festival on Sunday evening, police said.

During the Jivitputrika festival, mothers fast for the long life, health, and prosperity of their children, particularly their sons. They gather near rivers, ponds, and temples with their children to perform various rituals.

In Chandauli, the incident occurred around 6 pm near Chari village, when the children who were accompanying their families for the festival rituals went to take a bath in the Karmanasa river.

Station House Officer (SHO), Kandwa, Priyanka Singh, said that Piyush Yadav (12) and Himanshu Yadav (9) accidentally slipped into deep waters and drowned. A police team, along with divers, launched a search operation, but the children remained untraced late into the night.

In Deoria, five children slipped into deep water while bathing during the festival in separate incidents in the Gauri Bazar and Baitalpur areas.

In Devgaon village under the Gauri Bazar police station, four children fell into a pond while bathing. Two of them were rescued, but Radha Gupta (12) and Amrita Gupta (9) were rushed to the hospital. Radha was declared dead upon arrival at Maharshi Deoraha Baba Medical College, while Amrita remains in critical condition in the ICU, police stated.

In another incident in Gulharia village under Baitalpur police station, Raj (10) drowned while bathing in a pond. He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. PTI CORR ABN ABN MPL MPL