A three-year-old boy drowned in a pond in Senthamangalam village near Arakkonam in Ranipet on Tuesday.
Police said that C. Gowri, 30, a daily wage labourer, was taking care of her four children after her husband K. Chandran, 35, died a few years ago. On Tuesday, she left her youngest son, Chandran, on the veranda of the house and was busy doing chores. After some time, Gowri noticed that he was missing. She searched for him but was unable to locate him.
Based on an alert from her, Nemili police and firefighters from Arakkonam reached the spot and searched for the boy. They retrieved his body from the pond behind the house. The incident happened around 2 p.m. The body was sent to Government Taluk Hospital in Arakkonam for a postmortem. A case has been filed. Further investigation is on, police said.