A nine-year-old girl was found sprawled near a small river in Banjar Kesian, Gianyar on Sunday afternoon.
Dewa Made Sudirtha, who found the girl, apparently tried to help, but could not revive the child.
“I told the other residents that there was a small child lying on her back at the river,” Sudirtha told police on Monday, as quoted by Tribun Bali.
The little girl was identified in reports as Ni Kadek Reni.
Sudirtha said Reni’s house was not far from the river and the girl would go there to bathe. Sudirtha rushed to get Reni’s parents who then brought her to Sanjiwani Hospital in Ginayar, but doctors said she was beyond saving.
Based on information provided by the family, the girl is believed to have died from an alleged epileptic relapse while bathing in the water that was just about ankle-deep.
“The child often showered there,” Chief of Gianyar Police’s Criminal Unit Made Tama told Tribun Bali.
Police say they found no signs of violence on the girl’s body.
Police offered to conduct an autopsy to confirm the girl’s cause of death but said the offer was rejected by her parents.
