Boy gets trapped in rice canister, dies

Vijayawada: A seven-year-old boy died after accidentally locking himself inside a rice canister while playing with his friends on Friday evening in Arundhati Nagar, Kanchikacharla, NTR district. However, the incident came to light on Sunday.Kanchikacharla SI B Raju told TOI that U Vinay and his twin brother Vikas, sons of Pawan and Saraswathi, had recently returned from their maternal aunt's home in Madupalli, Khammam district. The boys had spent the summer vacation there and were brought back on Thursday to have Vinay's Aadhaar card details corrected.On Friday afternoon, the children were playing hide and seek with neighborhood kids. During the game, Vinay went inside his house to hide and unknowingly climbed into a large rice canister kept on the terrace. He shut the lid over himself, and the latch fell into place, trapping him inside. The family and neighbors searched the entire locality in panic, but hours passed with no sign of the child.Around 1 am that night, , Saraswathi, still frantically looking for her son, went up to the terrace again. Noticing the rice canister, she grew suspicious. On opening the cannister, she found her son lay lifeless in there. It is believed that he died of suffocation after being trapped for several hours. Saraswathi, already under intense stress from the search for her son, reportedly developed a severe stomach ulcer upon discovering his body. Neighbours and relatives gathered to console the bereaved family. The entire colony fell into mourning as news of the child's death spread.Police had registered a complaint prior to identifying Vinay in the canister and opened a missing person case. Preliminary investigations suggest accidental death due to suffocation. Police are continuing inquiries to rule out any foul play.