The body of two-year-old Sujith Wilson, who had fallen into a well near his home in Tiruchirapalli district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Friday, was retrieved in a heavily decomposed and mutilated state on Tuesday morning, The Times of India reported.
"We observed a stench emanating from the bore well. It was confirmed that Sujith is no more. We found his body to be highly decomposed and dismembered," local media quoted Tamil Nadu government official J. Radhakrishnan as saying.
The drilling operation to dig a parallel shaft alongside the abandoned well on Friday in an attempt to save and rescue the child has been stopped, he added.
Netizens took to social media to express their anguish and shock over the tragedy. Some criticised the administration for not closing such wells or putting up warning signs.
Efforts were initially made to rescue the boy by using "clamping," technology involving tailor-made equipment, but when that did not succeed, a heavy German manufactured drilling machine was deployed in an attempt to reach the infant stuck at a depth of 90 to 100 feet, but hampered by rocky soil and rain, the rescue efforts failed.
Hundreds of people from surrounding villages gathered in Fathima Puthur village on Tuesday morning for the last rites of the dead infant. The body was placed in a coffin and buried in the presence of three state government ministers and others.