Manya Damerla died due to electrocution in the swimming pool of Prestige Lakeside Habitat apartment in Bengaluru
The locals have accused the government of incompetence, which they claim resulted in the girl being electrocuted, even if the precise cause of death is yet unknown.
Who is Manya Damerla who allegedly died due to electrocution in swimming pool of Prestige Lakeside Habitat apartment Bengaluru
A 10-year-old girl was found dead in a swimming pool at an apartment complex in #Karnataka's #Bengaluru on Thursday evening.
The deceased has been identified as #ManyaDamerla, a resident of Prestige Lakeside Habitat apartment off the #Varthur–#Gunjur road. Manya was studying in… pic.twitter.com/xp5E2R7mi4
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) December 29, 2023
A 10-year-old girl in Bengaluru city was playing near an apartment swimming pool when she fell in. At 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, the girl was playing by the apartment’s pool. She was rushed to the hospital right away, where the medical staff pronounced her dead. The girl’s parents reported their suspicions about the occurrence to the police, and a case was opened.
Manya Damerla, a resident of the Prestige Lakeside Habitat apartment complex off the Varthur-Gunjur road, has been identified as the deceased. Manya attended a private school and was a Class 4 student.
She slipped and fell into the swimming pool at that moment. When they saw her, some people raced to save her. Soon, she was removed from the swimming pool and was brought to a private hospital right away, where medical professionals pronounced her dead.
An FIR has been filed.
Rajesh, the father of the deceased, has lodged a complaint at the Varthur police station regarding this occurrence. At the Varthur police station, a case has been filed, and an investigation has been launched by the authorities. According to DCP Sivakumar, the girl’s parents demanded an investigation after expressing suspicions regarding her death.
The CCTV camera caught the girl approaching the swimming pool just before she passed away. The catastrophe occurred, and the apartment’s occupants learned of it ten minutes later. The girl was taken to the hospital by the apartment’s residents by 7:50 p.m. Every scene has been recorded by the CCTV system.
Her father, Rajesh Kumar Damerla, founded and serves as CEO of the digital content creation company Life Simplified. The family lives in the complex’s Tower-17.
What actually happened?
The mother of the deceased revealed that her daughter was a bright child, and they never thought an accident like this would happen. She would never come back but she observed a lot of parents were nervous following the event. However, on behalf of all those parents and kids, she demanded justice for her daughter and revealed shocking news of electrocution.
Sources claim that a day before the incident, a few kids had complained about getting an electric shock while entering the pool. It was reported to a security guard, but no actions were taken. A complex resident named Charulatha confirmed the incident, stating that the possibility that it was a static shock was dismissed.
She revealed that her daughter along with Manya were playing cop and robber. She added that Manya dove into the five-inch-deep shallow water. The youngsters laughed at her as she fell, thinking she was feigning difficulty, but when they saw that her body was trembling, they cried out for assistance. Nobody went into the water until someone turned off the MCB, despite some attempts to save her with wooden sticks.
Official Police statement
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP-Whitefield), Shivakumar Gunare, stated that they are awaiting the post-mortem report to determine the precise cause of the girl’s death. “To determine the cause of the girl’s death, we have also requested a report from an electrical engineer and a histopathology report,” he continued.
“We spoke with the residents, and they said Manya might have been electrocuted by a wire that was hanging from a light pole near the pool,” a police officer stated. Locals believe the girl may have fallen into the lake after being electrocuted. Although she did not have any burn injuries, we are still considering the residents’ claims.
In the meantime, efforts to get a response from Residents Welfare Association members have been unsuccessful since none of them are ready to discuss the death with the media. Situated close to Varthur Lake on 102 acres of land, the Prestige Lakeside Habitat housing complex is home to multiple IT workers. In this building, a two-bedroom apartment costs between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore.
There have been a lot of complaints about electric shocks
At least since May, several residents have complained about electric shocks. There was a rise in tickets. There were haphazard repairs made. The employees at Prestige Property Management and Services (PPMS) are completely ignorant of electrical wiring and are ill-equipped to handle such circumstances. If the PPMS had been more aggressive in its electrical repair and upkeep, life might have been saved.
The parents have forbidden their children from playing outside since the death. According to locals, the property is maintained by the PPMS. Additionally, some residents alleged that the PPMS was making an effort to show that they had not been negligent.
In Bengaluru, electrocution in a swimming pool has happened before. Roshan Rasheed, a Keralan Class 12 student competing in a swimming competition in Bengaluru in November of last year, was electrocuted after coming into contact with a lit-up diving board that had wires dangling from it. The National Public School in Agara was the location of the incident.