Karnataka: Boy herding cattle died, eaten by crocodile in Raichur

KEY STORY

• BELAGAVI: A 10-year-old boy, who was herding cattle at a remote village was died and eaten by a crocodile in Karnataka’s Raichur district. While the incident happened in the afternoon hours of Wednesday, his torso was found lying near a river shore in the wee hours of Thursday.

• The boy, identified as Mallikarjun R was herding cattle along with six others at D Rampura village near Krishna river. As schools have remained close, these children were forced to look after cattle from morning to evening for about 9 hours.

• The children were studying in a government school here. On the day of incident, the children took break to eat lunch they brought from homes. After finishing food, the kids went near the river to drink water using hands.

• Mallikarjun was grabbed by the alligator which took him away. The children called for help. The crocodile in no time vanished from the site and locals using coracle started searching even before police arrived. The police who later joined the search found the torso of Mallikarjun near the shore. A case has been filed in Yapaldinni police station.

• MD Rafi, a local who along with the police searched for the body said there are about six crocodiles in this part of river at D Rampur.

• The children normally do not go near the water except for drinking water. The water levels in the river has also come down making it easy for the crocodile to hunt. The children are vulnerable and are easy pray for this animal. He pointed that after schools closed the children here are seen herding cattle.

  E Mounesh, another villager said the only solution to stop these tragedies is to reopen schools.

  “If the schools were opened, this incident would never have happened. The parents of this kid is mourning the loss and parents of other children who were present are now asking the authorities to open school to save them.

• Shankarlingappa said the government is directly responsible for this incident. The children here are seen working in the farms, with cattle, sheep for more than nine hours. It is high time government reopen schools to safeguard the future of children.

CONCLUSION

• In another incident, a 10-year-old girl from Ballari district has been found dead at a sugarcane farm in Koppa in Mandya district. The family was migrated to Mandya to harvest canes.

• The girl’s body was found with her neck slit. A complaint has been filed in a local police station. Raghavendra, a Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) officer from Ballari informing about the incident said he is yet to get FIR copy and it is suspected that the girl was sexually assaulted before the murder.

  Niranjanaradhya VP an education expert talking to TOI on the backdrop of these incidents said chief minister and education minister should take responsibility for these incidents. The state has failed to protect children during this crisis period.

“If schools were functioning even for part time we could have had saved the lives of these children. These incidents proved again that schools are the places that protect children,” he said. He urged KSCPCR to take suo moto cognizance of the incident and conduct enquiry.