Three-year-old Ritik Kanti drowned after slipping into a pond near his house in Cossipore, in north Calcutta, on Friday morning.

Police have ruled out foul play.

Ritik was playing with a ball on the banks of the pond near his Prannath Chowdhury Lane home when he slipped into the water. His mother was busy preparing food for the family in the kitchen.

An hour later, some local residents spotted a body floating in the pond and raised an alarm.

“A large crowd immediately gathered on the spot and a local youth jumped into the water to fish out the body,” said an officer of Cossipore police station.

“We were too shocked to react after the body was identified. Everybody in the neighbourhood loved Ritik,” said Raju Das, a neighbour.

The boy was rushed to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead.

“He was my only son and I was planning to get him admitted to a Montessori. How will I live without him?” wailed Ritik’s father Anil, who works in an embroidery shop.

Mother Asha sobbed inconsolably as she cursed herself for letting the boy leave home alone while she was cooking food for her husband.

“He was such a lovely boy. He used to come to my house daily and play with my son. It is difficult to accept that he is no more,” said a neighbour.

Gyanwant Singh, the deputy commissioner of police (headquarters), said: “The child accidentally slipped into the small pond while playing. There was no foul play. We have asked local residents to set up fences around the pond to avert a repeat of such an incident.”