Woman drowns in water tank at construction site
GURGAON: A 20-year-old construction worker was found dead late Wednesday night on the 13th floor of Tulip Violet apartments, which are under construction, in Sector 69, Gurgaon.
The police said the woman slipped into the water tank accidentally, fell unconscious and drowned. The post mortem report identified the cause of death as ‘asphyxia following ante-mortem drowning’.
However, the woman’s relatives have alleged that ‘her death doesn’t appear natural’.
The woman, who hailed from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, had been working at the site for the past few years, her relative, who stays in Uttam Nagar in Delhi, said. He said the incident happened around 12.30am and it was unlikely that she had died of drowning as there was only 2-3 feet of water in the tank. The relative, on condition of anonymity, added that someone could have pushed her into the tank.
A video of her mother Sunita, who came from Delhi this morning after the news about the incident broke, has surfaced in which she is seen saying that ‘it wasn’t possible that my daughter died naturally. I think there is some foul play’.
She also said the Tulip company was pressuring her to ‘settle’ the matter.
The Badshahpur police, on the other hand, is saying that the woman slipped inside the tank and hit her head against the wall.
“It wasn’t that she was alone. She was working with two women and three men at the site on the 13th floor. She slipped and fell into the tank which had water up to 3 feet. The floor of the tank was slippery. She hit her head on the wall of the tank, fell unconscious and drowned,” Rajender Kumar, SHO of the Badshahpur police station, said.
She was taken to the civil hospital, where she was declared dead, the SHO said.
Kumar said he has spoken with her family members and they haven’t claimed any ‘foul play’.
The police came to know about the incident on Thursday morning after which the body was sent for an autopsy.
Dr Deepak Mathur, forensic expert of the civil hospital who conducted the autopsy, said it was a case of drowning. “There was another injury which was not significant. The cause of the death is drowning,” he said.
ACP (Sohna) Brahm Singh said the police has met the father, mother, brother and other relatives of the woman and ‘they had no problems with the post-mortem report’. He said the family hasn’t filed any case.
Some media reports initially claimed that the woman was raped, but the post-mortem report ruled that out.
A Tulip spokesperson said the developer has nothing to do with the incident. “The police are investigating the matter and the company will fully assist in bringing out the truth. No pressure is being put on anyone and it is hoped that the police probe will make things clearer,” he said.
The woman’s father, who is also a daily wage earner, is differently abled. “He was hurt earlier while working at a construction site of the same company,” the ACP said.
POLICE SAID THE WOMAN SLIPPED INTO THE WATER TANK, FELL UNCONSCIOUS AND DROWNED