Two 12-year-old girls drowned on Tuesday afternoon in an artificial pond at an under-construction residential project in Gurugram's Sector 71, near Fazilpur village, after entering the property through an opening in its fencing with two other girls, police said on Wednesday. The victims are not being named because they were minors.

Source: News18 via DainikNews Live

According to the police account reported by News18, the girls reached the project's golf-course area between 12.30 pm and 12.45 pm by an unpaved road at the rear of the property and entered through a gap in the fence near a tree; no security guard was present in the guard room at the time. One girl slipped into the pond's deeper section and the second drowned while trying to rescue her. Police said the pond's base was covered with a large sheet of black plastic, making it difficult to find a grip and climb out, and that the golf course had one large water-filled pond and at least 10 smaller ponds, which were dry.

Source: News18 via DainikNews Live

The two other girls ran home and informed their families, who alerted the police at around 1 pm. Police pulled the girls from the water, performed CPR and took them to the Civil Hospital in Sector 10A, where doctors declared both dead on arrival. The bodies were handed over to the families on Wednesday after post-mortem examinations.

Source: News18 via DainikNews Live

A father of one of the girls lodged a written complaint at Badshahpur police station alleging that the pond had no permanent boundary wall and that the site was enclosed only with metal sheets, leaving an opening through which people could enter. A scene-of-crime team inspected the site and collected evidence, including the children's clothes and a water sample from the pond.

Source: Urban Acres

An FIR was registered against unidentified persons at Badshahpur police station on Tuesday under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Kuldeep Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Badshahpur), said the investigation would establish who was responsible for the alleged security lapse, adding: "After investigation, whoever is found guilty of negligence of keeping the premises secured, will be arrested."

Source: News18 via DainikNews Live

Police said the two families originally belong to Bihar and have been living in the area for nearly a decade. Police have appealed to residents to keep children away from open ponds, deep pits and construction sites, and urged that proper safety arrangements be put in place around hazardous locations.

Source: Urban Acres