Belagavi, Apr 10 (DHNS): Two brothers, aged four and three, believed to have locked themselves in a car while playing at Madigunji village in Khanapur taluk, were found dead on Thursday. Their sister survived.
The medical officer who conducted the postmortem of the bodies opined that the children might have died of suffocation. However, Praveen Kamble, father of the deceased children, filed a complaint with the police in which he said his children were murdered and requested for an investigation.
It is suspected that Preetam (4) and Prem (3) got trapped in the car when the family members and neighbours were busy searching for a snake that had strayed into the lane.
Family members said they had been planning to go on a pilgrimage to Savadatti Yellamma temple and had borrowed a relative’s car and parked it in front of the house.
Praveen Kamble, who works as a lorry driver, had parked the vehicle but it wasn’t locked from outside. At about 12:30 pm, Preetam, Prem and their elder sister Pritvi (5) got into the car and locked themselves. They also rolled up the windows.
During this time, a snake had strayed into the lane near Kamble’s residence. Family members and other residents in the lane got busy searching for the reptile for over an hour. It is suspected that Preetam and Prem, who had been in the car, might have suffocated to death. The condition of their sister Pritvi was turning bad.
However, she succeeded in waving a cloth towards the road and getting attention of the passersby.
After the doors of the car were opened, Preetam and Prem were seen lying unconscious in the rear seat. They were immediately rushed to Khanapur General Hospital for treatment, where doctors declared them brought dead. Pritvi survived.
Family expresses ire
Kamble family members expressed their ire against the Police Department as they had to wait for more than two hours to register the case of death.
They also condemned the acts of Londa Hospital Medical Officer Prashant Gaikwad who conducted the postmortem of the bodies before police could complete the case registration formalities.
Khanapur police have registered a case.