Odisha youth drowns during Kartika Purnima rituals; family donates his eyes

A tragic incident occurred on Wednesday during Kartika Purnima in Kumunde village under Tarabha police limits of Subarnapur district, where a 20-year-old youth drowned to death while performing the boat sailing ritual.

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According to police sources, the deceased, identified as Subhranshu Pradhan, had gone to the Suktel River in the morning along with other villagers to offer prayers and perform the ritual. Suddenly, he slipped into the river and was swept away by strong currents.

After an extensive search, villagers found him approximately 500 meters away in a critical condition. He was immediately taken to Bolangir district headquarters hospital (DHH), but doctors declared him ‘dead’ upon arrival.

Subhranshu was the only son of his family. The entire household is shattered by his untimely demise. Following a post-mortem of the recovered body, the youth’s family donated his eyes, honouring his memory amidst their grief.

“He (the youth) had gone into the river to take a bath. Several others were bathing there, and he also took a dip. All of a sudden, he was swept away by water. After we launched a frantic search, we found him around 400-500 metres away from the site where he was bathing and had drowned. Immediately, we brought him to the government hospital, but doctors declared him dead,” a local resident, Prabin Kumar Nag, expressed.

“After taking a bath, while sailing a miniature boat, he was swept away as he did not know how to swim. The flow of water was excessive. The search operation got a little bit delayed, for which he could not be saved,” another resident, Sarat Karmi, stated.