Bhagalpur: The Karma-Dharma festivities turned into gloom when six children, aged between 12 and 14 years, drowned in a water body at Bishnu Tola in ward number 27 of Sultanganj municipal council area of the district on Monday morning. The incident took place near Narayanpur Bahiyar in Ajgaibinath Dham locality under Sultanganj police station area.The deaths left the village and surrounding rural areas in mourning.The two-day Karma-Dharma is a traditional harvest and nature festival celebrated during the Hindu month of Bhado (Aug-Sept), with people observing rituals and festivities associated with nature, agriculture and community life.Five of the deceased were from Bishnu Tola, while one, Jyoti Kumari, was from Sabour block and had gone to her maternal grandparents’ house for the festivities. The deceased have been identified as Pooja Kumari (13), daughter of Puran Mandal; Rahul Kumar (14), son of Purab Mandal; Vikas Kumar (13), son of Ranjan Kumar; Ayush Kumar (12), son of Vinod Mandal; Meenakshi Kumari alias Minki (12), daughter of Valmiki Mandal; and Jyoti Kumari (14), daughter of Dhananjay Mandal of Sabour block.According to local residents, the children had gone to bathe in a village water body when the incident occurred. They were initially in shallow water but apparently moved into a deeper part and began drowning, they said. Some villagers raised an alarm and attempted to rescue them, but were unsuccessful.The villagers took the children to the Community Health Centre (CHC), where doctors declared all six dead. The incident plunged the locality into mourning as preparations for the festival were under way in the village.Some local residents questioned the absence of safety arrangements around the water body during the festival.Police and administrative officials reached the spot after receiving information about the incident. The bodies were recovered and sent to a govt hospital for postmortem, while further legal proceedings are under way.Sultanganj SHO Dhananjay Kumar confirmed the deaths of six children due to drowning in the water body. He said an FIR was being registered in connection with the incident.
