Overview
- Local officials say four minor girls drowned after entering a deeper section of a village pond in Bankat while bathing as part of Jitiya festival activities and a fifth girl ran for help.
- Villagers and police recovered the bodies at the scene and took them first to the Paharpur health centre before sending them to Motihari Sadar Hospital for postmortem examinations.
- Local reports identify the deceased as Sonawati/Sonamati (about 13), Phoolwati/Phulmati (about 10), Sonali (about 10) and Pratibha/Pratima (about 12) though minor variations in spellings and ages were reported.
- Paharpur police have launched an inquiry to determine how the drownings occurred and East Champaran officials have begun the formal process to provide compensation once drowning is confirmed.
- Villagers demanded immediate safety measures at the pond, including warning signs and barricades, highlighting a wider problem of unmarked and unmanaged rural water bodies that raise the risk of accidental drownings.