After 3 days in pit,15-year-old rescued

His identity has not been established yet as he is incoherent and still in shock,police said. They believe he could be a labour hand employed in the area.

According to police,all the boy has said till now is “it wasn’t my fault. Why did he hit me?”

A senior police officer said: “The boy was spotted in the pit by a local resident. Many developers have their projects in the region and there are several construction pits there. Investigation has revealed that he fell into the pit on July 12. He remained in the pit for three days,without any food or water. He suffered severe trauma and was very weak when we brought him out. He was not fit to answer our questions. He said something that sounded like ‘Jharkhand’,leading us to believe he is from the state. Otherwise he only says,‘It wasn’t my fault,why did he hit me?’.”

Police said it could be possible that the boy was pushed into the pit,but it is not clear yet.

“At this stage we have absolutely no leads as the boy cannot talk. There has not been any missing person report from the nearby areas. Apart from what he keeps repeating,we saw evidence of abuse. Once he recovers,we will have a clearer idea. But we think he was attacked and then left in the pit to die. It would explain the lack of a missing persons report and his present state. Further investigation is in progress,” an officer said.

An official in the district hospital said: “He suffered from acute trauma,which required specialised psychiatric assistance. We don’t have the facilities to treat a case like this. He was then referred to IHBAS.”

Officials of IHBAS said while the boy was still traumatised and not talking much,he was showing signs of recovery. He was also suffering from tuberculosis,which was being treated,officials said.