Boy Dies During Hide-&-Seek Game; Grief-Stricken Dad Kills Self

A simple game of hide-and-seek between a father a his children turned fatal for a family in Coimbatore. A two-year-old boy drowned during the game, and his grief-stricken father ended up killing himself.

According to the police, 32-year-old R Manikandan, who runs a mobile shop, was playing hide-and-seek with his daughter Devadarshini and his son Dejashvin. Manikandan and Devadarshini took turns to go to the terrace to keep the count, while the other hid inside the house. They had been playing for over an hour when Manikandan noticed that his son was missing.

After apparently searching for him, he found that Dejashvin has drowned in a water tank. Without raising any alarm, Manikandan asked his daughter to go up to the terrace and count while he hid himself. When she came down, she found that the door of one of the rooms was locked.

The girl woke up her mother who peeked inside the room through the window. They both found Manikandan hanging from the ceiling. When she searched for her son, she found the two-year-old in an open water tank.

The Thudiyalur police station sent the 2 bodies for post-mortem. The bodies have now been handed over to the family.

*Originally published in Times of India*