In a heart-wrenching incident, a woman and her 13-year-old daughter drowned in a pond while taking a bath at Ghola Handi village under Dasapalla Police limits of Nayagarah district on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Sandhyarani Pradhan, wife of Purnachandra Pradhan, and her daughter Barsharani Pradhan.
According to sources, Sandhayrani and her daughter had gone to the village pond to take a bath. When they didn’t return, Sandhyarani’s mother Mini Pradhan went to the pond to check on them.
When she reached the pond she was shocked to see the bodies of both Sandhyarani and Barsharani floating on water. She raised an alarm and cried for help.
Hearing her cries, the villagers came rushing to the spot and were taken aback by what they saw. They immediately informed the Fire Services department. Later, a team of fire personnel reached the spot and fished out the bodies. The bodies were rushed to Dasapalla Community Health Centre (CHC) where the doctor declared them received-dead.
It was suspected that their feet might have slipped while bathing.
“My wife and daughter had gone to the pond to take a bath and drowned there. We were working outside and returned to our village yesterday to celebrate Dussehra,” said Purnachandra Pradhan.
Narrating the incident, Mini Pradhan said, “After having breakfast, they went to the pond. It was me who first saw them floating on water. Then I raised an alarm.”
As the news broke, a pall of gloom descended on the village and the Dussehra festive mood turned gloomy with villagers mourning the deaths of the mother-daughter duo.
(Reported by Sanjib Sahoo)