Six children drown in Palamu after Karma puja immersion rituals
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK Daltonganj, September 23: Six children, aged between 8 and 22 years, drowned in two separate incidents in Palamu…
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, September 23: Six children, aged between 8 and 22 years, drowned in two separate incidents in Palamu district early Wednesday morning while performing immersion rituals of the Karma Dali following Karma Puja, police said.
Five of the deaths were reported from the Koyel river in Bokeeya under Chainpur police station limits, while a 15-year-old girl drowned in the Jinjoi river under Paton police station limits. The incidents occurred during or shortly after the immersion rituals, according to police sources.
Chainpur officer-in-charge Lalji said five youngsters from Bokeeya village had gone to the Koyel river to immerse the Karma Dali. After completing the ritual, they entered the river to bathe and attempted to cross to the opposite bank.
According to police, the strong current swept them away.
Local residents managed to recover four bodies and rushed them to MMCH Daltonganj, where doctors declared them brought dead. The body of eight-year-old Hemant Kumar Singh was yet to be recovered when this report was filed.
The deceased have been identified as Amit Kumar Thakur, 22, Nitish Kumar Singh, 19, Vishal Paswan, 16, Raja Singh, 12, and Hemant Kumar Singh, 8. All five were residents of Bokeeya village.
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15-year-old girl drowns in Jinjoi river
In a separate incident, 15-year-old Simpi Kumari drowned in the Jinjoi river at Nani Jhariya under Paton police station limits while participating in the Karma Dali immersion ritual.
Paton officer-in-charge Anil Vidhyarthi said Simpi slipped into the river while the ritual was underway. He said a group of girls had gone to the river and there were no men present at the spot at the time of the incident.
Post-mortem conducted
Post-mortem examinations of the recovered bodies were conducted at MMCH Daltonganj. Civil Surgeon Dr Anil Kumar Sriwastwa said two doctors were deployed for the examinations—Dr Sanjeet Kumar from the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology and Dr Uday Singh from the Skin Department.
Local BJP MLA Alok Kumar Chourasia visited the post-mortem facility and consoled the bereaved families.
District Disaster Management nodal officer Kundan Kumar said the state government provides an ex-gratia assistance of Rs 4 lakh in cases of death by drowning, subject to the mandatory post-mortem report confirming drowning.
CM Hemant Soren expresses condolences
Chief Minister Hemant Soren expressed deep condolences over the deaths through a post on X and prayed that Marang Bru would give the bereaved families strength to cope with the tragedy.
SDPO Sadar Rajesh Yadav said greater caution could have prevented the incidents and urged people to exercise extreme care while entering rivers during immersion rituals.
Police sources said advisories are issued during immersion ceremonies to ensure the safety of devotees, but their compliance remains a challenge.
