Eight-year-old Abhihan fell into a manhole while playing on May 6. Three months later, his body has not yet been found.
The minor boy was playing outside his house in Block 13D of Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi when the tragedy struck, sending his family in state of shock from which they have not recovered.
To make matter worse, Abhihan’s body has not retrieved from the sewer despite the passage of over three months. His father narrated the ordeal to MM News.
The child’s father said Abhihan fell into the drain while playing with his friends. All the children went to play the match in the street ahead.
Suddenly, Abhihan’s ten-year-old elder brother came running to his family and informed that he has fallen into the sewer.
The child’s father said that when the family arrived, there was a rush, the sweepers were jumping inside with a rope on their body, but due to lack of facilities, they could not get inside.
”The sewer in which the child fell was very deep and the water pressure was very high due to which the rescue was difficult. They continued digging till night but no result.”
“They (authorities) told us that now we will start this work again in the morning at Fajar. The next day we waited for them till 4 PM, no one came then we protested, after which at around 4.30 PM, they sent the vehicles and started working again.”
According to the child’s father, he spent all his time digging but couldn’t find the sewer line and where it was going. “If the sewer line was found, maybe we could have worked something out,” he said, appearing in state of helplessness.
The child’s father said he will file a case against the authorities for their negligence so that what happened to his son doesn’t happened again.
“I hope that all those who have had such incidents in the past will also do the same to me. Fight the case against them together because if we do not raise our voice today, we will see such incidents in the future.”
The local residents said the manhole’s cover has been lost for a long time and despite several complaint, no response has been received.
