A class VII student of a school at Baliposhi village in Odisha's Deogarh district drowned in a pond during immersion of the Lord Ganesh idol today, the police said.
Around 12 students of the UGUP school took the Ganesh idol in a procession to the village pond for immersion when the deceased, Mithun Samal (12), slipped in the waters, they said.
As other students raised an alarm, the villagers rushed to the pond to rescue the child.
However, by the time the villagers could pull him out, he had died, they said.
"A case of unnatural death has been registered and a case will also be registered against the school teacher who directed the students for immersion of the idol, for negligence," said Inspector in-charge of Deogarh police station, Sudarshan Jena.
