7-year-old Boy in Delhi Tragically Found Dead in an Open Drain; AAP and BJP Point Fingers

The body of Prince, a seven-year-old boy was found in a drain in Northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar on August 19. The incident leads to BJP and AAP pointing fingers at each other. 

Prince, who was seven at the time of his unfortunate death, was missing until his body was found in an open drain, hours later. His mother would go on to state that her son lost his life because the drain was open and that Prince would often go there to relieve himself due to the lack of a proper toilet facility in the area. 

A missing persons complaint was filed by the family on Sunday and a search was conducted, reported Jitendra Meena, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest). The police stated that Prince was seen to be playing near his house on Sunday afternoon which was the last time people saw him before he went missing. He was said to be playing near a drain which was not covered, a source told the police. 

The Incident

This led to the police searching the drain for the seven-year-old boy and the body was recovered on the same day he was reported to be missing. The police said that the drain was five feet deep and they required the help of divers in order to retrieve Prince’s body. They are also looking into the possibility of the deceased being pushed into the drain by someone or if his death was just a tragic accident.

Prince, his parents, and his younger brother lived at the JJ cluster of A Block in the Wazirpur Industrial area. His parents are both labourers and he was a student at a government school, studying in class two. 

After the postmortem, his body was handed over to his family and they registered an FIR at the Wazirpur Police Station against unnamed individuals under sections related to negligence.  

The Blame Game 

Prince’s family blamed the civic authorities for the death of their son. They indicated that not only did they not have proper, sanitary toilet facilities, but the open drain posed a risk for anyone. 

The incident also led to a blame game between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

BJP claimed that Prince was not able to use the toilets operated by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) because it was “filthy” which is why the seven-year-old was forced to go to drains instead. AAP diverted the blame on the Lieutenant Governor for “dismantling” the toilets, an allegation which the latter denied. 

Virendra Sachdeva, the Delhi BJP President, on Monday, alleged that the nation’s capital has had “at least 20-22 cases” in the past two months where people have “died because of waterlogging, electrocution, or drowning.” BJP’s Ashok Vihar MCD councillor, Yogesh Verma, in a statement to The Indian Express, said that he has been filing complaints to cover the drains in the area for the past two years. According to Verma’s claims, the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) would respond to his complaints by stating that they have “no funds”. 

AAP, in response to the backlash from the opposition, stated that the Prince’s death was “extremely unfortunate” and that they stood in solidarity with Prince’s family. They offered to help the deceased’s family however they could. The response continued, The BJP should at least not do theatrics over the death of a child; they are well aware that the councillor of the area belongs to the BJP whose duty was to ensure that the drain remained covered.”