A two-year-old boy stuck in a narrow well for more than four days was pulled out dead yesterday, triggering protests over delays in reaching the toddler.
The case of Fatehveer Singh captured national attention after he fell into the 110ft deep borewell in Sangrur while playing on Thursday.
The disused well was just 23cm wide, complicating desperate efforts by dozens of rescue workers and volunteers as locals and television cameras looked on.
“The child is not alive anymore. He was pulled out at 5 in the morning by the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) personnel,” Vijay Inder Singla, a state lawmaker, said.
The toddler, who had oxygen supplies but no food or water, was flown in an air ambulance to a hospital in Chandigarh where he was declared dead.
He had no pulse, no respiration and no cardiac activity when he was brought to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.
Postmortem findings suggest death occurred a few days back, the hospital said.
As the child was retrieved, his grandfather Rohi Singh said: “Why was he taken to the hospital when he is no more.”
He claimed that the body of the child had grievous wounds.
“He was pulled out (of the borewell) by using strings.”
A health worker in the PGI’s mortuary told reporters that the child’s body was badly decomposed.
Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said it was one of the toughest operations carried out by the NDRF.
Authorities had dug a hole parallel to the well and inserted a 36-inch wide pipe into it, in an attempt to reach the trapped toddler.
Villagers angry about the failed rescue mission gathered at the site yesterday and shouted slogans against the state government. Protesters also blocked a main road briefly before police were deployed to prevent further trouble.
The rescue operation was “delayed due to lack of required technical assistance,” resident Kultar Singh said.
The borewell was dug by the child’s family in 1984. They used to draw water from it to irrigate the fields but stopped using it after 1991.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered a crackdown on open wells across the state. “Very sad to hear about the tragic death of young Fatehveer,” he tweeted yesterday.
“Have sought reports from all DCs (deputy commissioners) regarding any open borewell so that such terrible accidents can be prevented in the future.”