A 13-year-old boy from Chennai's Urapakkam area was found dead on Saturday, a day after he went missing. The boy was last seen by his parents on Friday when he left the house to take the family's pet dog for a walk. But when the dog returned and the boy did not, the parents immediately launched a search for him with their neighbours.
The missing teenager, Mukesh Kumar, was a Class 8 student and had left his house after online classes for the day had ended. According to reports, his parents Ponnurangam (50) and Leelarani (42) were waiting for him to return from the walk at their residence in Swami Vivekanandar Nagar, but only the dog returned. When search efforts by the family and neighbours did not yield any results, they informed the local police in Otteri, who then filed a case and began a search for the missing boy.
On Saturday morning, residents of Guduvancheri informed the police that a body was found floating in a canal, close to Mukesh's residence. The body was recovered and sent to a government hospital. The boy’s father Ponnurangam identified the body as his son’s. According to reports, the police suspect that the boy slipped and fell into the canal while walking the dog. The canal had reportedly been flooded after recent rains.
The recent rains that have struck all over Tamil Nadu, coupled with crumbling civic infrastructure, have led to multiple deaths in Chennai and other districts.
In Chennai, a mother and daughter fell into an open stormwater drain in December and died. The two women were travelling by two-wheeler after purchasing groceries and met with the fatal accident in Mogappair. It was reported that the mother lost control of the bike as there was three feet of water in the drain.