Boy asphyxiates while swinging on rope

A seven-year-old boy, playing alone on the terrace of his house, asphyxiated as his neck became entangled in a rope fastened between a water pipe and a pole. The incident occurred at MV Garden in Halasuru, east Bengaluru, around 3 pm on Tuesday. 

Siddhu, a class 2 student, removed the rope that was tied to a pole for drying clothes. He attached the rope to a water pipe that was connected to a tap. He then tried to swing on the low-hanging rope. He fell down and his neck became entangled in the rope. He suffocated. 

Siddhu lay there motionless until his father, Das, arrived to check on him. It was just half an hour ago that Das had brought his three children, including Siddhu, to the terrace. The boy hadn’t gone to school as he had fever. The children played there for half an hour. Das took his other children home while Siddhu kept playing. 

Police said the boy’s mother, Santosh Kumar, had tied the rope for dying clothes, which Siddhu untied and attached to the water pipe. Das got frightened seeing his son lying motionless. He took him to Chinmaya Mission Hospital but it was too late. Das works as a security guard while his wife is a domestic help. The couple, hailing from Tamil Nadu, had moved to Bengaluru around 15 years.