Following the tragic drowning of a toddler in a Delhi farmhouse swimming pool, police have arrested a contractor and are investigating potential negligence and safety violations.
A contractor involved in the construction of a swimming pool at a farmhouse in south Delhi's Mehrauli, where a two-and-a-half-year-old child drowned earlier this week, was arrested on Friday, police said.
The role of the farmhouse owner is also under investigation, they added.
The child allegedly fell into the swimming pool at the farmhouse on Wednesday evening. The family of the deceased toddler said the boy was playing near a construction site in the area, as he often did.
"That evening, we were working at the construction site near the farmhouse while he was playing nearby. Around 6.15 pm, he went back home after telling us he was hungry," said Vipin, the child's maternal grandfather.
He said the child's mother fed him, after which he stepped out again, saying he was going to visit his aunt who lived nearby.
Vipin further said he worked as a mason and was engaged in construction work near the farmhouse along with the child's father, identified as Bengali Majhi. The family had been staying in the area for the past three months after moving to the capital from Bihar's Bhagalpur in search of work.
"He would usually move around between the houses and come to the work site to play. He was familiar with the area," he added.
When the child went missing soon after, the family began searching for him.
Around 7 pm, his grandmother noticed a set of clothes lying near the swimming pool of the farmhouse, raising suspicion.
"When we saw the clothes near the pool, we rushed there, but it was too late," Vipin lamented.
When the family reached the pool, the child's body was floating in the water. He was pulled out but could not be saved, the grandfather said.
"We had never imagined something like this would happen. He would never go near the pool or touch the water," he said.
The child was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead, police said.
"We are examining whether adequate safety measures, such as barriers or supervision around the pool, were in place," a police officer said, adding that further investigation is underway.