Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod

Kasargod, Aug 9: In a tragic incident, a little child who went missing a week ago was found dead at Panathur here on Tuesday August 9.

Four-year-old Sana Fathima's body was found near a stream at Bapungaya, about two kilometres from here home in Panathur.

Curiously, the body was found stuck among the branches of a tree just above the stream.

The girl had been last seen on August 3 playing in the yard of her house.

A search operation for the girl was launched after she went missing a week ago. It is suspected that Sana might have fallen into a rainwater channel located near her house and got washed away into the stream, till she was trapped among the branches of the tree.

It was initially suspected that Sana might have been kidnapped, and the search had been conducted from this angle. The police had kept an eye on vagabounds and information was shared with authorities in the district, the state and even those of other states.

It is was also suspected that she might have fallen into the rainwater channel near her house, and on Wednesday, when search was conducted from this angle, her body was found.

For past seven days, fire personnel, police, locals, coastal security police and others have been looking for the child day and night.

The body was later sent for post-mortem to Periyaram hospital.