As the nation mourned the tragic death of two-year-old Sujith Wilson who was trapped at a depth of 100 feet after falling into a borewell, a video of a toddler dancing to a song has gone viral, with netizens who posted it claiming it was him. However, it has been confirmed by Puthiya Thalaimurai that the boy in the video and photos being circulated is not Sujith.
With hashtags #SaveSujith, #SaveSujithWilson and #PrayForSujith, social media users posted the last image and video of Sujith stuck inside the borewell with his hands raised. However, a fake image of the two-year-old and a video of him dancing to a song were circulated along with the messages to rescue him as soon as possible.
Sujith was last heard responding to calls of his mother on Saturday morning, the second day of the operation to rescue him. The boy, who was first stuck at a depth of five feet, later sank down to 100 feet, making it even harder for officials to rescue him. After 80-plus hours of tireless efforts, the child was found dead in a highly decomposed state. Officials retrieved the body and after postmortem reports, he was buried in Fathima Puthur village.
Netizens took to social media platforms to register their angst against the government for their inability to close open borewells in the state and questioned if they would respond only at the cost of a child. Actors Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, GV Prakash Kumar, RJ Balaji and many others took to Twitter to condole the death of the boy and urged the government to close all open borewells at once. Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami also expressed his grief and directed officials to ensure strict enforcement of rules for digging of borewells.
WATCH | The video in which 'Sujith' is dancing
After his death was confirmed in the wee hours of Tuesday, hundreds of people from surrounding villages swamped the Fathima Puthur village burial ground to pay their teary-eyed final respects and farewell to Sujith.