Puttur, September 10: A lady was flung into swollen River Kumaradhara from over the bridge, survived surprisingly after being towed by the river current for about four kilometer’s. The girl had clung to a branch of a tree that had bent over the river and remained there throughout the night to save herself . On Tuesday morning, she was rescued by the cops with the local’s aid.
The incident occurred near Pijakkala Paloli in Kadaba village in the taluk on Tuesday morning September 9th .
A boy named Anand who was raised by the girl’s family, which gave him shelter since he was an Orphan and belonged to a family known to them. Anand fell in love with Padmavati, daughter of Chennu and in course of time, put forth the proposal to marry her. As the parents of the girl did not have any reservations about this relationship, Anand came closer to the girl over a period of time and developed physical relationship. This unethical relationship resulted in pregnancy of the girl, who is in the sixth month of pregnancy now.
Her parents were not aware of these developments and the boy had convinced Padmavati to abort her pregnancy. He reportedly asked Padmavati, who was in her grandmother’s place at Tannirpantha in Alike, to reach Uppinangady on Monday evening. From there he picked her up in a motor bike, ststing that he would arrange for her abortion in Kadaba hospital.
Anand took Padmavati to Subrahmanya temple from Uppinangady. From Subrahmanya, he took her to the bridge over River Kumaradhara at Pulikukku. He said he wanted to spend some time with her by loitering around the area, as there was time for the doctor to reach the hospital. He also told her that there was some problem with the motor bike. The girl revealed that, around 7.30 pm, as Padmavati stood on the bridge and was observing the river, Anand suddenly came from behind, lifted her up and tossed her into River Kumaradhara.
It is gathered that Padmavati, who was rolling bidis at her home on September 5th, had left for Arasinamakki to get trained in tailoring. She did not return by evening. When her friends were questioned, her parents came to know that she had told them that she would be visiting some friends. It is learnt that, after speaking to some relatives over phone thereafter, they came to know that Padmavati was at her grandmother’s house in Tannirpantha village.
Anand told Padmavati that he had borrowed the motor bike and Rs 5,000 from her relative named Somanath residing near Kokkada in Beltangady taluk. Padmavati revealed that, he had told her; for this abortion he was required to spend Rs 20,000.
Padmavati, who knew swimming, was swept away by the river after being dropped into it, before she could catch hold of a tree branch and survive. Murali from Mooraje and his friends had visited the river at around 12 midnight that day to check whether the fishing line they had left behind in the river had succeeded in attracting any fish. They heard wails from the midst of the river. The youth, who had heard the rumours that a local youth named Dharmapal, who had drowned at the spot about a month back while fishing, had turned into a ghost and making his appearance felt by making strange sounds, fled to their homes.
In the morning, Murali reached the spot along with some of his friends from local Yuvaka Mandala, and reached the middle of river in a raft. He saw a girl shivering on the tree branch. By then, another person named Sundar Maistry came there with his raft. Murali and friends helped Padmavati to get down on the raft and brought her to the riverbank. The police, who were waiting there, admitted her into the government hospital at Kadaba. Later, she moved for advanced treatment to the government hospital in Puttur.
