A two-year-old girl was found dead in a well under mysterious circumstances at Balaramapuram on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram city in Kerala on Thursday (January 30, 2025).
The child, who resided with her parents, an elder sister, grandmother and an uncle in a rented house in Kottukalkonam, was reported missing around 5.15 a.m. The body was later discovered during a joint search by the police and the fire and rescue services. A team led by Neyyattinkara Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) S. Shaji has launched an investigation. The police have started questioning the parents and other family members.
Going by preliminary information provided by the family, the child had slept along with her mother the previous night. Shortly before the toddler went missing, her mother went to the toilet. Upon hearing the child cry, the mother asked the toddler’s grandmother to check on her. During this time, inexplicably, the room where the child’s uncle was sleeping caught fire. After putting out the fire, the family discovered that the child was missing.
Foul play suspected
The investigation team has raised suspicions of foul play, particularly given the improbability of the child having fallen into the well, which is fairly secured by a wall.
Compounding the mystery, the family had recently approached the Balaramapuram police claiming that ₹30 lakh had gone missing from their house. There were inconsistencies in their statements about that case, the police stated.
Incidentally, the death has occurred on the day the family was set to observe the 16th day of mourning for the child’s grandfather. While the child’s father works at a supermarket in Udiyankulangara, the mother is employed as a contract worker at the Travancore Devaswom Board.
Published – January 30, 2025 10:15 am IST