Nine-year-old boy who imitated ‘Parakkum Kavadi’ ritual in Kerala loses life

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a freak incident, a nine-year-old boy was found hanging on the grills of the window of his house at Edava near Varkala, after he imitated the ritual ‘Parakkum Kavadi’.

The deceased Ajeesh is son of Ajayakumar and Shyamini. The Ayiroor police have registered a case in connection with the incident and a probe is on. According to the police, the incident is believed to have occurred around 8 pm on Thursday at the residence of the grandmother of the deceased. Since Ajayakumar and Shymaini were not there, Ajeesh and his elder sister Achitra were taking care of their grandmother Leela. When Leela was watching television, Ajeesh went to the bedroom and took the churidar shawl of his sister. Excited by the ritual, he started imitating it. When Leela called him for the dinner after a few minutes, he did not respond. When she came to the bedroom, she saw the boy hanging on the shawl tied onto his hands and neck. The police suspect the shawl might have got entangled in the boy’s neck.  

The body of Ajeesh was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination at the government hospital at Varkala. Ajeesh was a Class IV student of Karipram LPS. Ajayakumar is a daily wage labourer, police said.