Kid falls to death from fifth floor of apartment in Chennai's Poonamallee

CHENNAI  A three-and-half-year-old girl, who was alone at home, fell down from the fifth floor of her apartment complex in Poonamallee on Monday morning and succumbed at night. The child's father A Ravi (42) works as a revenue assistant with the Poonamallee Municipality while mother Sindhiya Herin (32), is a homemaker.

Police said on Monday, Ravi had left home early to drop his son, Kennet Aarav (8) for football practice and later went to church for the 6.30am service. A few minutes later, Sindhiya left for morning walk, leaving behind Aditi at home.

"The child was sleeping and the parents had locked all the doors. However, an hour later, the watchman of the apartment complex called up the parents informing them that Aditi was found unconscious by one of the residents and was handed over to the neighbours," said inspector Chidambara Murugesan, Poonamallee police station.

While Sindhiya and the neighbour left for A nearby private hospital, Ravi who entered the house found the balcony door open and checked the CCTV footage available with the security. "Only after seeing the footage did they realise that the child had fallen from the balcony. There was a chair near the balcony door. We suspect Aditi must have woken up and wondered where her parents were. She could have climbed the chair, opened the balcony door and fell down," said inspector Murugesan.

Police said the girl fell on her hips and had an internal bleeding. She looked fine externally, with just bruises, but doctors said the bones had dislocated. According to the complaint from Sindhiya, Aditi who regained consciousness at the hospital had complained of breathing difficulty.