After 48 hours, girl trapped in borewell found dead in Karnataka

BIJAPUR: Hope turned to heartbreak at Nagathana village in Karnataka's Bijapur district on Thursday. The 48-hour-long massive operation to rescue four-year-old Akshata ended in tragedy with rescuers retrieving the girl's lifeless body from the 60-foot deep open borewell where she had been trapped midway since Tuesday evening. At around 10pm on Thursday, the worst fear of the rescue team was confirmed after they finally reached the spot where Akshata was trapped. Earlier in the day, members of the rescue team as well as district incharge minister MB Patil had hinted that the chances of the girl's survival appeared slim. The grueling rescue operation that began at 9.30pm on Tuesday was coordinated by several teams, hampered by the presence of hard rocks and intermittent rain and driven only by hope. The news came as huge shock to the family of Akshata and villagers of Nagathana who had been waiting with bated breath since Tuesday night hoping to see rescuers pull the child out alive. Akshata's body was shifted to Bijapur district hospital for post-mortem following which it will be handed over to Hanumant Patil, Akshata's father and farm labourer. The cremation will happen later at Patil's native Vatare village in Jewargi taluk in Gulbarga district. Akshata is survived by her parents and eight-year-old sister. The rescue operation saw 60 personnel directly involved in it with teams from the National Disaster Response Force from Pune and Sangli, and Hutti Gold Mines Ltd of Raichur apart from police personnel, fire-fighters, doctors and officials of Bijapur district administration stationed at the spot, working round the clock. Earlier, the attempts of a Madurai-based team to rescue the child using a robotic arm came to a naught due to frequent mud cave-ins. M Manikandan had been flown in with his team and equipment on Wednesday by a special chopper. The team made three attempts to work the robotic arm down the borewell and retrieve the girl but each time only heaps of mud and stones came out. On Wednesday night, digging operation was also halted for four hours for this but eventually the robotic exercise had to be called off. While the 37-foot parallel pit was ready, 10-foot horizontal tunnels were drilled at seven points to seal the borewell with iron shafts so that Akshata didn't slip further. But hard rocks and rain slowed the rescue operation on Thursday. It was when the horizontal tunnels were being bored that rescuers had the first indication that the child may be dead as they felt the smell of decomposed flesh. Three men detained Three men, who are owners of the farmland where the open borewell was situated in Nagathana village, are in police custody but police refused to confirm if they have been arrested. Ramachandra Halli and his two sons Tippanna and Anil own the farmland that lay adjacent to the vineyard where Hanumant Patil, Akshata's father, and his family stayed and worked. Akshata and her friend Bhavani were playing on the farmland when a stray dog chased them, causing Akshata to trip and fall into the borewell on Tuesday evening. -TOI