A five-year-old girl, sleeping at home, was found dead in a well in Ramanathapuram

A five-year-old girl who went missing while sleeping at her grandmother’s house in Ramanathapuram was found dead in a neighbor’s well on Sunday morning.

The deceased, identified as the daughter of Karthikai Selvi and Balaganesh of Madurai, had accompanied her mother and younger sister to her maternal grandparents’ house at MSK Nagar in Ramanathapuram a few days ago. The family members – including Karthikai Selvi, her two daughters, her younger brother, his wife and other relatives – were sleeping in the house on Saturday night. At around 5.30am on Sunday, Karthikai Selvi woke up to find that her elder daughter, who was sleeping next to her, was missing.

The family searched the house, relatives’ houses and nearby areas, but the child could not be found. Karthikai Selvi then lodged a complaint with the Ramanathapuram Bazaar police. The police, together with HZS workers, started a search, during which the child’s body was found in a neighbor’s well. The body was recovered and sent to Ramanathapuram Government Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem.

Police said the circumstances of the death are suspicious because the well is at a considerable height, making it difficult to determine how she could have fallen into it. Bazar police have registered a case of suspicious death and started investigation.

The grieving family refused to take over the child’s body after the post-mortem and demanded a thorough examination to determine the exact cause of death.

Published – 28 Jun 2026 23:20 IST