“Will file complaint under Section 198”: Congress leader Abhishek Dutt after 8-year-old boy fell in manhole in Delhi

New Delhi [India], August 3 (ANI): Congress leader Abhishek Dutt on Saturday said that he will file a complaint under Section 198 after the eight-year-old boy fell into a manhole that was covered with cardboard in Delhi’s Defence Colony area.

Earlier, an eight-year-old boy was rescued after he fell into a manhole that was covered with cardboard in Delhi’s Defence Colony area, officials said.

“Today Delhi is in the news, whether it is the news of three student deaths or the news of a child falling into a manhole. I have spoken to the father of the kid. The manhole lid was covered with a plyboard, after which he stepped on it, and the plyboard broke, causing him to fall into the drain. The child was saved after the father held his hand. This is sad. The administration is not concerned with whether people live or die. The focus is on giving lame excuses. I am going to register the case under Section 198 (under the new law). I will register the FIR and demand compensation for the child,” the Congress leader said.

According to the Delhi Police, the child has been identified as Jasmeet Singh, who fell into a manhole in front of South Delhi Public School in the national capital.

“The manhole lid was covered with a plyboard, which the 8-year-old boy, stepped on. The plyboard broke, causing him to fall into the sewer,” the police said.

The child was promptly rescued with the help of people and didn’t sustain any injuries. The boy was being dropped off at school by his father and was accompanied by his mother and younger sister.

Ajeet Singh, the father of the boy, said, “There was a plyboard on the sewer, it broke, and my child fell inside it. My wife was with me, she held his hand and people immediately pulled my child out. The pit was deep, so I had to lie down on the road and pull him out. It didn’t rain yesterday, had it rained, it would have overflowed. There was a plyboard on the sewer but its cover was lying there too. The cover was not broken, it didn’t have any cracks either.”

He added that he took his son immediately to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he was given first aid and further treatment.

“After being pulled out, I took my child to AIIMS, where he remained for 7-8 hours. He was examined there. He is still jittery now, he woke up scared 2-3 times at night. There was chest-deep water in the sewer. I was with my child. Several other children come to the school alone on their own, had they fallen in it, who would have seen and rescued them? If the sewer was cleaned, why was it not covered? Why should my child suffer in the fight between MCD and NDMC? This should be investigated,” he added.

Earlier on August 1, a mother and a child tragically drowned after falling into a waterlogged drain in Ghazipur, near the Mayur Vihar area of East Delhi, following heavy rainfall in the national capital.

On July 27, three UPSC aspirants lost their lives in a flooding incident at an IAS coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar.