Five persons drowned in three incidents in Sivaganga and Kanniyakumari districts on Sunday.
Two siblings drowned in a swimming pool in a house under construction at Thirupuvanam Puthur in Sivaganga district. Police said the boys – A. Sheik Abdullah (7) and Mohamed Hansiff (4), studying class 3 and class 1 respectively in a local school – were playing near the swimming pool in the house, which was being constructed by a local industrialist and brick kiln owner, when they fell into it and drowned.
The house had no compound wall and the local children used to play there and take a look at the swimming pool, the police said.
The police registered a case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (suspicious death). The bodies of the siblings were handed over to the parents after post-mortem. The father of the victims was an autorickshaw driver, the police said.
When contacted, Superintendent of Police Ziaul Haque said the police had launched an enquiry to check whether permission was obtained from competent authorities for constructing the swimming pool in the house.
The police were also investigating whether there was negligence on the part of the building owner in not posting guards there. After investigation, the sections would be altered accordingly and action taken against the guilty, the SP said.
Kanniyakumari district police said three persons, including a couple, drowned in sea at two places. Umar (44) of Valayankadu in Tirupur district had gone to Kanniyakumari along with his family and four others. When they were taking photographs on Sanguthurai beach on Sunday evening, Umar’s wife Fatima (42) lost her balance and fell into the water after a strong wave hit them suddenly.
Umar tried to save his wife, but both of them were dragged into the water. Later their bodies were retrieved and sent to Kanniyakumari Government Medical College Hospital at Aasaripallam for post-mortem.
The couple had two daughters, aged 12 and 11.
In another incident, S. Bharath (28) of Kurumbanai in Kanniyakumari district had gone to Colachel beach along with his friends to take bath. Bharath moved to a deeper area of the sea and drowned. His body was recovered later.
Colachel police have registered a case.
