Kasargod: Three children suffocate to death while playing

Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (SP)

Kasargod, Apr 12: Playtime turned tragic for three children when they suffocated to death in two separate incidents earlier this week.

Two young boys suffocated to death after accidentally getting locked in a wooden cupboard. The incident occurred at Cheramangala in Palakkad on the evening of Monday April 8.

Sudeep, Shrijit, Prajit

Prajit (9), and Shrijit (6), sons of Nagaraj and Omana couple from Cheramangala were playing at home. Their father, Nagaraj, had gone out to attend to his lottery tickets vending business, while Omana, a labourer, was working for someone elsewhere.

The grandmother of the children, Chellamma, who normally stayed  home, was on a visit to a relative’s house. The boys, who were all alone at home, playfully entered the cupboard, but its doors accidentally got shut. Their cries for help went waste, as there was no one at home. Unable to open the doors, both of them suffocated and lost their lives.

At night, Omana reached home after work, and opened the cupboard to take away her clothes. To her horror, lifeless bodies of her children plopped out of the cupboard. Although both were rushed to a hospital, their revival efforts failed to succeed.

In another incident on Wednesday April 10 afternoon, a boy died after the sari-turned swing he was playing with, got tightened around his neck, and resulted in his strangulation. The incident occurred at Uppala Bekoor.

Sudeep (9), son of Ramakrishna and Sarita couple from Bekoor Colony, a third standard student of the government lower primary school there, lost his life in this unfortunate incident.

When the incident occurred, Sudeep's brother, Sunil Kumar, who is deaf and dumb, was at home. He was watching TV in the adjacent room, and did not realize what was going on. Sudeep's parents, who are coolies, were away. Another brother, Sudhir, was on a visit to a relative's home.

A lady who visited the home of the unfortunate boy for feeding lunch to them, saw what had happened, and called the neighbours. The locals rushed to the spot and took the boy to the hospital. But he was declared brought dead.