Missing toddler, allegedly ditched in well in Mansehra, recovered but dies in hospital

DARBAND: A toddler girl who went missing here in Mansehra's tehsil a few days ago was recovered alive from a well on Thursday and shifted to a nearby hospital but passed away soon afterwards, police confirmed.

The two-year-old had been reported missing four days ago.

According to Mansehra police, an unidentified man had allegedly lowered the two-year-old into an 80-foot-deep well and ditched her there before fleeing the crime scene.

Police added that a passerby had heard the cries of the frightened two-year-old and alerted the authorities, whereafter she was pulled out of the well safely and moved to the hospital.

Doctors, however, said the toddler girl had been lowered into the well at least six hours ago and left there all alone. Despite being recovered alive, she died in the hospital because she had exposed to cold weather for a long time and was suffering from breathing problems, they added.

No one was willing to help

The late toddler's family, on the other hand, claimed that she died because she was not administered timely medical treatment. They said there was no doctor at the local hospital and, therefore, the dispensers could not save her.

The family added that afterwards, the staff at the Darband hospital referred them to the tehsil headquarters (THQ) hospital in Oghi for the post-mortem but that the administration at the latter medical facility refused to help. They, instead, referred them to the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital in Mansehra but no one was willing to help.

Speaking to Geo News, the medical officer at DHQ Hospital in Mansehra, Dr Faisal, said the facility had summoned a lady doctor for the girl's post-mortem on a humanitarian basis despite strict orders.