Daijiworld Media Network - Puttur (SP)

Puttur, Jun 2: In a heart-rending incident which happened near Kuntyana Airala in Perabe village in the taluk on the evening of Wednesday May 31, a couple was washed away in River Kumaradhara. The deceased have been identified as Purushotham (58), and his wife, Bhavani (52) from Kumblady in Charvaka village.

The tragic accident happened when the couple was returning home after taking part in a marriage function of a relatives family at Yermal, Kunthoor village.

The couple stayed with their son, Deekshit. Their son, employed as a line salesman for a bakery, had left home on Wednesday morning for his work. The couple thereafter left to attend the marriage. Their son, who undertook line sale on Mangaluru route that day, was late in returning home. When returning home at around 7 pm, he called his parents over phone but no one responded. He called the neighbours and found out that there was no one at his home.

He then contacted the family which had arranged the marriage function, and was told that his parents had left at around 3 pm through the route passing through Airala. As it was already 9 pm, no further action was possible that day.

Kadaba police, who registered a case on the basis of a complaint made by Deekshit, began operation with the support of the fire brigade in the town. As the search did not bear fruit, talented divers from Tannirpantha were summoned. The divers could not find the body of Purushotham within 50 metres of the spot where he was supposed to have drowned. The divers continued their efforts, and at around 3 pm on Thursday, got hold of the woman's body at Barkuli in Perabe village.

The couple, who used to work as coolies, happened to be very poor. They lived about two kilometres away from the river. The people are surprised about the fact that the couple, who were well aware of the dangers posed by the river, tried to cross it in the evening. It is gathered that the couple had made an effort to cross the river at Airala, which is a shorter route, when going to the marriage, but had retracted their steps and crossed the river by using a bridge located at Shantimogaru some distance away, which is a longer route. Perhaps they tried to cross the river to save time when returning, it is surmised. Some also suspect that the river draught would have been strong at that time on account of release of excess water from Gundia dam.

The couple is survived by their only son. Kadaba police station house officer, Ravi N K, Kadaba revenue officer, Koragappa Hegde, Kaniyoor gram panchayat president, Seethamma, visited the spot and obtained details of the incident.