A two-year-old child who got washed away at a beach in Kerala's Alappuzha on Sunday afternoon, was found dead on Tuesday. After two days of intense search, the body of the child was found at the Galileo beach in Alappuzha.
The Hindu reports that the boy's name is Adhikrishna and he went missing in the sea on Sunday after his mother tried to take a selfie with him and two other children while they were all at the beach.
The search for the missing boy was carried out with the help of the Marine Enforcement wing and fishermen. Police were reported as saying that the mother had reached Alappuzha with three children - two of her own and one of her brother's — after attending a wedding. They were staying at a relative's house.
They were at first denied permission to enter the beach on Sunday, by the police, because of the rough sea. However, they apparently reached the beach near the ESI hospital, evading security. The woman, the three children and another relative were present at the beach.
When the woman tried to take a selfie with the children, strong waves of the sea hit them, causing them to lose their balance and fall. While they were being swept away, the relative who had accompanied them ran to the spot and pulled out the woman and the two older children aged six and seven. The little boy, aged two-and-a-half, had by then been washed away.
Selfie-related tragedies have happened in Kerala before. In 2014, at least two teenage boys died while attempting to take selfies with trains. A 14-year-old got electrocuted while taking a selfie on top of a stationary train while another 15-year-old posed for a photo on a track and got killed by a speeding train. Last year, a man was grievously injured when he tried to take a selfie with an elephant in Alappuzha.
Watch: Report on the toddler's death