THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The body of a 16-year-old boy who went missing two days ago was found in an abandoned well near his home on Wednesday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Arjun, a resident of Venjaramoodu and a Class 9 student. The police have initiated an investigation to find out the exact circumstances surrounding the boy's death.
The body was found around 8.30 am in an abandoned well located in a plot close to the family's house. It was Arjun’s father, Anilkumar, who noticed the body and alerted locals and police. Police and fire force soon arrived at the scene and initiated efforts to recover the remains.
Arjun had reportedly gone out to play around 6 pm on Monday but did not return. Other children who had played with him returned home by 5.30 pm, but Arjun was missing.
At the time, his mother Maya and younger sister Maheswari were at a temple festival at Pirappancode Sree Krishna Swami Temple, where the sister had a dance performance. They returned home only after 6.30 pm.
In the meantime, Arjun’s grandmother, Baby, who works as part of the cleaning staff at Technopark, had reached home and noticed his absence. She then informed Maya on her return. When neighbours were asked, they said the children had finished playing and gone home as usual. A frantic search by family members and locals followed, but found no result.
The family reported the missing case to the police by 7.30 pm on Monday. Despite extensive search over the two days, including checking CCTV footage from nearby areas, no leads were found. It was only on Wednesday that the body surfaced in the well, which had already been inspected during earlier searches.
"Search operations were conducted in this area and even in the well, but nothing was found. It seems the body surfaced only today," said K Suresh Kumar, a local representative.
Arjun had recently completed Class 9 and was preparing to enter Class 10.
He is survived by his father Anilkumar, mother Maya, sister Maheswari, and grandmother Baby.