Kasaragod: A 13-year-old boy was found dead inside his house at Badram Palla near Perla in Badiadka panchayat on Sunday, in a suspected case of suicide. The deceased has been identified as Sreehari, son of Sunitha and Prakashan, a rubber tapper who hails from Adoor in Pathanamthitta district.

Sreehari had asked his parents to prepare payasam for him on Sunday morning. Around noon, his parents went to town to buy the ingredients while he and his two sisters were playing outside the house.

After his parents left, Sreehari reportedly said he wanted to sleep and went into a room, locking the door. When his parents returned, his siblings told them that he had gone into the room and locked the door.

As the door was locked from inside and Sreehari did not respond despite repeated calls, the family broke it open and entered the room. They found him hanging inside. He was rushed to hospital but had already died.

Sreehari had recently been taken to a doctor after some lumps were found on his neck. Although cancer had been suspected, no diagnosis had been confirmed. He was reportedly distressed after overhearing family members discussing the possibility, said the family's next-door neighbours.

Sreehari was a Class VII student at an aided upper primary school at Bunpathadka in Perla. Prakashan and his family had come to Badram Palla to work as rubber tappers on a plantation owned by Abdullakunhi. The family lived in rented quarters near the plantation.

The Badiadka police have registered a case of unnatural death. After conducting an inquest, police shifted the body to Kasaragod General Hospital for autopsy.