Seven girls drown while taking bath in water bodies in Jharkhand

At least seven girls drowned while bathing in water bodies in Jharkhand in separate incidents, police said on Tuesday.

Four girls drowned while bathing in a pond in Pachamba police station area in Giridih district on Tuesday morning, a senior police officer said, adding that one girl accompanying them was rescued.

'Five girls, all aged under 15 years, had gone to the pond to bathe before performing a ritual of Karma Puja. However, they ventured into deep waters and four of them drowned, while one was rescued,' Giridih Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Sharma told PTI.

Giridih Deputy Commissioner Naman Priyesh Lakra said the bodies will be sent for post-mortem examination and a compensation of Rs 4 lakh will be provided to the next of kin of the deceased by the disaster management department.

In another incident, three girls, aged between 10 and 15, drowned while taking a bath in a river in Sahebganj district, police said.

The incident occurred at Kherwa village in Barhait police station area on Monday afternoon when the three girls stepped into Gumani River for a bath but ventured deep into the waterbody and drowned, Barhait police station in-charge Gaurav Kumar said.

The deceased were identified as Mantasa Parween (10), Seema Khatun (11) and Siman Khatun (15), the officer said, adding the three girls had come to the village to attend a wedding.

He said the bodies were fished out with the help of villagers and sent for post-mortem examination.