A joyous family gathering turned into a devastating tragedy in Kurigram’s Nageshwari upazila when two young cousins drowned in a pond while attempting to catch fish using a improvised net.
The incident occurred on Monday in Dhaluabari village, situated under the Kedar Union of Kachakata police station. The deceased have been identified as eight-year-old Siam, son of Mominur Islam from Char Bishnupur village, and seven-year-old Mofassira, daughter of Dulal from Khamar village. Both children were visiting their maternal grandmother’s homestead alongside their families when the fatal accident unfolded.
According to the children’s paternal uncle, Abu Bakkar, the tragedy took shape at around 11:00 am. Siam and Mofassira, accompanied by another young child from the neighbourhood, had fashioned a makeshift fishing net out of a torn mosquito net. Eager to catch small fish, the trio waded into a nearby pond adjacent to the homestead.
During their play, Siam and Mofassira slipped into deeper water and submerged beneath the surface. The neighbouring child, apparently overwhelmed by panic or fear, left the scene without raising an alarm or notifying adults nearby.
The situation came to light around 1:00 pm when local residents noticed Siam’s lifeless body floating on the surface of the pond and alerted the family immediately. Relatives and neighbours rushed to the spot, recovering Siam from the water before searching the depths to retrieve Mofassira’s body from beneath the surface shortly after.
Officer-in-Charge of Kachakata Police Station, Arpan Kumar Das, confirmed the incident, stating that a police team was dispatched to the scene to carry out the necessary procedural formalities.
Drowning remains a persistent and heart-breaking public health crisis across rural Bangladesh, particularly during the monsoon season when water bodies fill to capacity. Children visiting relatives’ homes in unfamiliar rural settings often face heightened risks near unfenced ponds, ditches, and rivers, where brief lapses in adult supervision can prove catastrophic within minutes.
