CHENNAI: A 10-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder drowned in a private swimming pool at Kolathur on Sunday morning.
The deceased, R Krithik Sabarishwar, resided in Kolathur and went to a special school in the same locality. He had been taking swimming lessons at the pool since April. The police said that the parents in their complaint alleged that Krithik’s trainer had made him swim for over an hour and this could have led to his collapse.
“His father was waiting outside, while the mother went inside with the boy. Krithik was allegedly made to swim for more than an hour at a stretch. The mother told the trainer that Krithik was getting tired, but the trainer dismissed her concerns. After she spotted the boy collapsing, the trainer pulled him out and rushed him to a hospital,” a police source said.
Krithik was taken to Periyar Nagar Government Hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Upon information, Kolathur police recovered the body and sent it for postmortem.
According to the police, the pool was about 3.5 feet deep. The Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2015, mandate that swimming pools may have a maximum depth of 167 cm (5.47 feet). Owner of the pool A Godwin Hector Joseph Brown (41) and the trainer, M Avinash (24), were arrested.