THANJAVUR: Three boys who went to a pond near Vallam in the district to take bath after school hours on Friday drowned in the waterbody, sources said. Condoling the deaths, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh to each of the families of the three children.
The deceased were identified as S Balamurugan (10), S Jaswanth (8) and K Madhavan (10) - all from Thiruvengada Udayanpatti.
According to sources, all the three boys, studying at the Thiruvengada Udayanpatti Panchayat Union Primary School, did not return to their respective houses until around 10 pm. Their parents, who until then thought that the children might have headed to the Sundaramurthy Ayyanar temple in neighbouring Maruthakudi -- where a festival was under way – set out on a search for them with their relatives.
After someone told them that the children were seen near the pond near the Pillayar temple - also in Maruthakudi - the search group went there, and found the children’s school bags on the pond’s bund and the three boys lying motionless in the waterbody. Though all the three boys were taken to the Government Thanjavur Medical College Hospital (TMCH), they were declared brought dead, sources said.
The Vallam police have registered a case.