Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The owner of the agricultural farm in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa, where a 6-year-old boy fell into a borewell and died, has been taken in custody by the MP police.

According to information, the farm owner has been booked on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The 6-year-old boy, Mayank Kol fell into an open borewell situated in field in Manika village on Friday. A 45-hour-long rescue operation was conducted with the help of NDRF team, only to find him dead.

According to Police Superintendent, the owner of the field where the borewell was situated has been arrested on Monday. The accused farm owner has been identified as Bijendra Mishra.  

Mishra, the accused has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 174 (non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant) leading to a comprehensive investigation into the matter.

According to an official, in February of this year, the panchayat department issued orders to close unused and open borewells following accidents involving children.

After the incident in Rewa, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav suspended two senior officials from Janpad Teonthar for suspected negligence. Yadav also urged the public to ensure borewells are covered to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

In March 2023, an 8-year-old boy fell into a 60-foot-deep borewell in the state’s Vidisha district. He was rescued after 24 hours but could not survive.

In a similar incident last December, a four-year-old girl was rescued from a borewell in Rajgarh district of the state but died in a hospital within a few hours.