Contractors held, owner on the run

On June 20, 4-year-old Mahi Upadhyay fell in the borewell and lost her life.

The plot owner is still absconding, though police claim that several teams are conducting raids to arrest him.

Rohtash Tayal hired Himmat Singh Yadav (45) and Satbir Singh (42), residents of villages near Rewari, to dig the borewell outside Mahi’s house. The police have also confiscated their borewell-digging machine.

On Sunday, the police had booked Rohtash on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code. The authorities had also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of the minor. As it is mandatory to seek the deputy commissioner's permission to dig a borewell in Gurgaon, according to court directions, a separate case of contempt will also be initiated against Tayal and the contractor.

Tayal had the borewell dug three months ago as there was shortage of water in the area. However, they struck a rocky patch at 68 feet and abandoned the borewell without filling it.

He was contacted by the local authorities on the day Mahi fell into the borewell but he switched off his mobile and is currently in hiding.

Mahi had fallen into the 68-feet-deep borewell on June 20 at 11.10pm while playing outside her house. The stone covering the borewell had been removed just that day by an auto driver.

The driver had brought home a music system for the four-year-old's birthday party and the chassis of his vehicle had hit the stone. Unaware of the fact that there was deep pit there, the driver had pushed the stone aside to free his vehicle. Mahi was trapped in the borewell for 85 hours and was finally retrieved dead.