The boy was rushed to Terna hospital by the family where doctors declared him brought dead on arrival
This image has been used for representational purposes only
An eight-month-old boy, identified as Aryan Ansari, fell into a water-filled pit in Nerul on Sunday morning. Aryan was a son of Arif Ansari, who is a balloon seller and his mother Aarti is a rag picker. Aryan was playing in an open plot next to his house in the slums opposite Nerul Gymkhana when the tragedy happened. Though the victim's five-year-old cousin was around supervising him, he could not prevent the accident. The incident took place around 11 am when the cousin sister got distracted by other children and as soon as she turned her attention back to the victim, he was nowhere to be seen.
The family realised that the child had fallen into the pit a couple of hours later. Mumbai Mirror quoted Aryan's uncle, Arbaaz Ansari saying, "It seems like the child’s ball rolled into the pit which was full of rainwater. He may have tried to retrieve his ball and accidentally fallen into the water. We only realised it an hour later when his body floated up to the surface of the pit."
Senior inspector of Nerul police, Rajendra Chavan said that the three foot-deep pit is in an open plot of land. "We have registered an ADR for now as no one can be held responsible for the mishap," he said.
According to another officer, the area has been marked as a non-residential and the shanties there are illegal. Hence, the authorities also cannot be blamed or held responsible.
Local activists who have a different view said, "It is the responsibility of the authorities to not let the squatters make homes anywhere, especially in a restricted area. These kinds of incidents will continue to happen in a settlement like this," said advocate Siddh Vidya, who informed the police about the incident.
The boy was rushed to Terna hospital by the family where doctors declared him brought dead on arrival. His body was later taken to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation General Hospital for a post-mortem analysis.
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