CHENNAI: A 12-year-old boy died after falling from the fourth floor of his apartment in Perumbakkam on Tuesday. Police are investigating whether the boy jumped from the building after his father scolded him for travelling beyond his intended bus stop.

The deceased was identified as Diwan, son of Muneeswaran, a MTC bus driver. He was a Class 7 student at a private school in Thoraipakkam.

The family was staying at a Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board quarters in Ezhil Nagar in Perumbakkam. Police said, on Tuesday, Diwan boarded a bus from Thoraipakkam to return home after school as usual. However, he fell asleep during the journey and missed his stop, going all the way to Parry’s Corner in the return trip of the same bus. The bus driver woke him up and helped him get off the bus.

When the driver enquired, Diwan said that his father was also a government bus driver. The driver subsequently contacted Muneeswaran by phone and informed him about the incident. Muneeswaran went to Parry’s Corner, brought his son home and left for work shortly afterwards.

Before leaving, he scolded Diwan for falling asleep on the bus and travelling beyond his designated stop. After a while, Diwan went to the fourth floor of the apartment and fell to the ground. Hearing the noise, residents rushed to the spot and took the critically injured boy to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Perumbakkam police reached the spot, recovered the body and sent it to Tambaram GH for a postmortem. Police have registered a case and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death and whether it’s a suicide.