Despite 54-hr Rescue Effort, 6-year-old Trapped in Borewell Dies

Belagavi (Karnataka): A six-year-old girl who had fallen into a deep borewell in a village in Karnataka's Belagavi district died on Monday night.

Kaveri Ajit Madar was playing in the field on Saturday when she fell in the open borewell and was stuck at 25 feet. After a 54-hour operation, rescue teams pulled out the body around 11.50 pm on Monday.

The Pune-based NDRF team retrieved Kaveri's bruised body from the dreaded borewell through a parallel tunnel it dug for two days after drilling the rocky terrain.

"We have shifted the body to a state-run hospital for autopsy before handing it over to Kaveri's parents," said the official.

"We have registered an FIR against the absconding owner (Shankarappa) of the borewell and the farm land. The well was left abandoned after it dried up due to drought," said Ravikanthe Gowda, Belagavi Superintendent of Police.

Karnataka Small-Scale Industries Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who hails from the district, lamented that Kaveri could not be saved despite all efforts by the NDRF team and the fire brigade personnel.

"Our heart-felt condolences to her bereaved family even as the entire state mourns for her," Jarkiholi said.

Kaveri's grieving and inconsolable mother Savita told news channels that no other child should meet the fate of her young child.

"We appeal to the state government to shut all open and dry borewells anywhere in the state so that no other child will die like my dear Kaveri," said Savita.