Funeral of boy, killed after concrete pillar fell on him at Konni elephant camp, today

Kottayam: The funeral of the four-year-old boy, who was killed after a concrete fencing pillar fell on him at the elephant camp in Konni, will be held on Sunday.

Abhiram, son of Aji and Raji from Kadambanad near Adoor, was killed in the mishap around 11.30am on Friday. The pillar fell on Abhiram while he was holding on to it and playing. The concrete fencing pillar was fixed in front of the 3D theatre of eco-tourism project. Though the boy was rushed to nearby Konni taluk hospital and later to Pathanamthitta general hospital, his life could not be saved.

The boy arrived at forest department's elephant camp along with his father's brother. The elephant camp has been temporarily closed after the mishap. Forest minister AK Saseendran issued orders for a probe. Pathanamthitta district police chief VG Vinodkumar visited the place.

Abhiram's funeral will be held at his residential premises around 1.30pm on Sunday. Aji, who has been working abroad, arrived home on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the autopsy's primary finding revealed that Abhiram died of a deep wound above the forehead and an injury on the rear side of the head. He had aggravated injuries on the back side when he fell down, while the forehead injury was after the pillar fell on his head.

Meanwhile, action was initiated against some staff of the eco-tourism project following the mishap. Section forest officer R Anilkumar, who was in charge of the eco-tourism centre, was suspended from duty. Beat officers Salim, Satheesh, Sajini and Umayya Shaji were also suspended. South zone CCF issued orders regarding this. There are indications that Konni DFO and range forest officer would be transferred. The action is based on forest minister's directives.