CHENNAI: A five-year-old boy playing near his house drowned in an uncovered pit filled with rainwater, near Thiruvottiyur on Saturday. Residents claim the pit was dug about a year ago by a petroleum company for laying oil pipelines, but it failed to close it even after deciding to stop the work. But the police claim it is a sewer pit.
“Around 3 pm on Saturday, Rakshit (5) stepped out of his house to play. A few minutes later, his mother Jamuna came out in search of him to buy him ice cream. As she could not find him, she went to the backyard of her house, when she spotted his body floating in the rainwaterfilled pit,” said Vijayalakshmi, a neighbour.
After Jamuna raised an alarm, the neighbours rushed in and took the child to a private hospital nearby where the boy was declared brought dead. Later, the body was shifted to the Stanley Government Medical College and Hospital for autopsy. Rakshit’s father Bharathi Raja, working as a daily labourer, has been residing with his wife and only son at Kanniyappan Street for over 20 years. The last time he saw Rakshit was when he was heading to work around 9 am. After that, he received a call around 3.20 pm, informing him about the incident.
“A year ago, the staff from the petroleum company started digging a pit behind the houses and later, when the project was shifted to another locality, they closed the pit only up to a small stretch. The rest was left open for about 1 km,” said Citibabu, another neighbour.