Two minor girls drown in Bihar

Two minor girls drowned in a pond in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, police said on Saturday. The incident happened at Baaghi Village under the jurisdiction of Maniyari police station on Friday evening, a police officer said.

The minors along with other girls of the village had taken their goats for grazing near a pond. All of a sudden they slipped and fell into the pond, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Maniyari police station, Mukesh Kumar, said. Locals fished them out of the pond after the other girls raised an alarm but both of them were dead by then, he said.

The deceased were identified as Shiv Kumari (10) and Sharmila Kumari (9), the SHO said, adding, the bodies were sent to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital in Muzaffarpur for post-mortem examination. The Circle Officer of Kudhni block, Shambhu Thakur, went to the village to console the families of the deceased.

He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the deceased.