Three-year-old girl dies as haystack catches fire in Shivamogga district
Times News Network | Jan 27, 2019, 23:01 IST
Shivamogga: A three-year-old girl died and her eight-year-old brother had a providential escape when a haystack caught fire in Shivamogga district’s Tirthahalli taluk on Saturday evening.
Police said Artha and her brother Dayananda were playing a series of games — hide-and-seek, and building a mock house with whatever they could lay their hands on — before the haystack went up in flames in an accident in the taluk’s Mavinagadde village. Their parents Ramesh and Vijayalakshmi eke out a living as daily wage workers and were away at the time of the tragedy.
According to police, Dayananda goes to a local school and Artha attended an anganwadi. On Saturday, the parents left for work in the morning. The children returned home by noon after participating in Republic Day celebrations. For some time, they played with their grandmother, said to be visually challenged.
Around 4pm, the siblings stepped out to play a game of hide-and-seek in a nearby paddy haystack. After a few rounds of the game, they chose to play the build-a-house game. It essentially involves building a tiny shelter and stuffing it with household items smuggled out from their residence. “When the girl had to enact preparation of tea, she accidentally lit a match that touched off a blaze. She died in minutes as the haystack went up in flames,” a police officer said.
Dayananda, who was hardly a few feet away, was shocked to see the haystack devouring his sister, even as he made efforts — in vain — to rescue her. Theirs is the only house in a 500-metre radius. By the time the boy alerted villagers and parents, who were away in a neighbouring village, it was too late to save her, a police officer said.
Police conducted a postmortem before handing over the girl’s body to the family.
Police said Artha and her brother Dayananda were playing a series of games — hide-and-seek, and building a mock house with whatever they could lay their hands on — before the haystack went up in flames in an accident in the taluk’s Mavinagadde village. Their parents Ramesh and Vijayalakshmi eke out a living as daily wage workers and were away at the time of the tragedy.
According to police, Dayananda goes to a local school and Artha attended an anganwadi. On Saturday, the parents left for work in the morning. The children returned home by noon after participating in Republic Day celebrations. For some time, they played with their grandmother, said to be visually challenged.
Around 4pm, the siblings stepped out to play a game of hide-and-seek in a nearby paddy haystack. After a few rounds of the game, they chose to play the build-a-house game. It essentially involves building a tiny shelter and stuffing it with household items smuggled out from their residence. “When the girl had to enact preparation of tea, she accidentally lit a match that touched off a blaze. She died in minutes as the haystack went up in flames,” a police officer said.
Dayananda, who was hardly a few feet away, was shocked to see the haystack devouring his sister, even as he made efforts — in vain — to rescue her. Theirs is the only house in a 500-metre radius. By the time the boy alerted villagers and parents, who were away in a neighbouring village, it was too late to save her, a police officer said.
Police conducted a postmortem before handing over the girl’s body to the family.
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