Two children drowned in a pond in Cumilla's Debidwar upazila on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Md Miraj Sarkar, 4, son of Maruf Sarkar of Nabipur village under Rasulpur union of the upazila, and Sadia Afrin Maria, 13, daughter of Nurul Islam Sumon, a businessman from Puratan Bazar Madrasa Para area of Debidwar.
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"I was cleaning my motorcycle near while Miraj was learning to swim in the pond. I think Maria, saw Miraj drowning in the water, and went to rescue him and both drowned in deep water,” said Maria's father Nurul Islam Sumon.
“Unable to find them anywhere, I came and found the sandals of the both of them beside the pond. Later, some others, including me, went to the pond and searched and found the Miraj and Maria bodies. They were taken to Debidwar Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared them dead,” he said.
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Kamal Krishna Dhar, officer-in-charge (OC) of Debidwar Police Station, said Miraj's grandfather Md Abdul Baten Sarkar filed a case at Debidwar Police Station over the deaths
The bodies were handed over to their relatives on the request of the families of the two, he said.
After the namaz-e-janaza in the afternoon, Miraj was buried at their village home in Nabipur and Maria was buried at the family graveyard adjacent to Kusagazi bari in Debidwar's Puraton Bazar area.
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