KARUR: A three-year-old boy died of suspected suffocation after accidentally getting locked inside a parked car at Kazhugur village near Kulithalai in Karur district on Thursday.
According to the police, the deceased, identified as Sanjeev, son of B Andivel (34), a mason, and Mareeswari (30), a construction worker, had been playing outside his house on Eswaran Temple Street when the incident took place.
The family had purchased a used Maruti Alto about 40 days ago, which was parked in front of their house and covered with an advertisement flex sheet.
Around 10 am on Thursday, the parents stepped out briefly to buy items for a temple ritual at Velliangiri, leaving Sanjeev playing near the house along with his six-year-old brother.
The police said the elder sibling later left to play near a small temple located about 100 metres away. During the time, Sanjeev is believed to have entered the parked car, and inadvertently locked himself inside. Unable to open the door and trapped inside the enclosed vehicle, the boy is suspected to have suffocated to death.
A senior police official told TNIE, “As the car remained covered with a flex sheet and the house was situated slightly away from neighbouring residences, the child’s presence inside the vehicle went unnoticed for a considerable period.”
When the parents returned around 11.45 am, they found the boy missing and began searching.
After a search lasting over an hour, they checked their parked car around 1.15 pm and found him unconscious inside. He was rushed to the primary health centre in Thogamalai, where doctors, however, declared him brought dead.
The body was later shifted to the government hospital in Kulithalai for post-mortem examination. The police have registered a case and further investigation is under way.