Drowning of boy in apartment pool in Kochi: parents allege negligence on part of association
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Parents of a six-year-old boy who drowned in the swimming pool of their apartment at Kaloor in Ernakulam district, Keralam, have accused the office-bearers of the apartment owners’ association of neglect in maintaining the pool, alleging it as the cause of the death of their younger son, a charge the association has strongly denied.
Talking to the media in Kochi on Thursday (September 24, 2026), Sabith Gassali, father of the victim, alleged that the pool, located in the open area between the two towers housing 160 apartments and separated from the children’s play area by an easily scalable fence, has been lying unused for the last five years and did not have a caretaker to restrict access. He said that despite his son falling into the pool while attempting to retrieve a ball around 4.50 p.m. on August 17, the body could be found only nearly four hours later, as the highly turbid water prevented visibility.
“My elder son had gone near the pool looking for his brother immediately after the incident, but could not find him because of this. Eventually, a resident who suspected that he might have fallen into the pool found the body. Three months earlier, another child had fallen into the pool but was fortunately rescued, and yet the association did not take any corrective measures,” said Mr. Gassali. He alleged that the last entry in the pool log was made in 2021.
The family has since petitioned the Ernakulam Town police, demanding action against the association office-bearers. “The investigation is still under way,” police sources said. The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has also visited the apartment and instructed the police to conduct a detailed investigation.
The secretary of the association dismissed the charges as baseless. “The pool has remained locked for the last five months, not five years, initially due to water shortage, after which painting work on the apartments got under way. But this was properly communicated to all apartment owners. Rainwater had got collected in the pool, which was pumped out from time to time. We do not wish to further respond to allegations thus stirring up a controversy,” he said.
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