Mogra, Aug. 21: A Class VII student in Hooghly who was fond of watching cartoons died today apparently while attempting a stunt that involved tying one end of a gamchha around his neck and throwing the other end in the air, the piece of cloth getting entangled with the ceiling fan.

Shivam Ghosh, 13, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a room where a TV cartoon channel was on.

He was the only child of Manik Ghosh, the manager of a mineral water factory in Polba. Manik was too shocked to speak.

Shivam's uncle Debu Ghosh said: "His school was closed today. After taking bath, he had gone into a room with a wet gamchha. He was very fond of watching cartoon channels on TV. Today, he was watching TV with the door closed. When we did not hear from him for a long time, we opened the door and found Shivam hanging from the ceiling fan."

Debu said the family witnessed another tragedy last week. "We are five brothers and live in a joint family. Last Sunday, we lost our mother to cancer. We were all depressed," he said.

Another uncle of Shivam, Joydeb Ghosh, said that yesterday, his nephew was rebuked and slapped by his parents for trying a stunt with a stretchable clothesline.

"Shivam had tied the stretchable clothesline around his chest and was trying to hang from a hook in the room. He had promised he would not try such stunts again," Joydeb said.

Today, family members disentangled Shivam, a student of St John's High School in Bandel, and rushed him to Chinsurah Imambara Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

The police were informed by the hospital and a team visited the boy's house for a probe.

A police officer said the boy's family had said Shivam was addicted to cartoons.

"Shivam was found hanging with one end of the gamchha tied to his neck and the other end entangled with the ceiling fan. We heard from family members that he often tied one end of the gamchha to his neck and swung the other end like a lasso, standing on the bed. It is a possibility that while swinging the other end of the gamchha, it got caught in the ceiling fan, which was on," the officer said.

The officer in charge of Mogra police station, Sukhamoy Chakraborty, said the incident was unfortunate.

Another police officer said the family members of Shivam should have been more careful.

A pall of gloom descended in Teghoria village and neighbours arrived to condole the death of the boy.

Prasanta Ghosh, a local Trinamul leader and a neighbour, said: "The boy was loved by every one in the village. His addiction to cartoons on the TV is well known in the locality. I have heard that earlier, too, he had tried various types of stunts with ropes at home. His parents had scolded him a number of times but to no avail."