A 23-year-old woman saved the lives of her daughter and a friend, but her husband drowned by the time she reached him in Nellakanadoddi lake near Kaggalipura on Saturday noon.
On Saturday morning Mahendra, 32, a businessman from Kaggalipura and his wife Punitha planned a weekend outing with their daughter Deeksha (4) at Thottikallu Falls (TK Falls) near Kanakapura. They also invited their friend Naveen. Around 12.45 pm, they reached TK Falls and realised there was no water. They spent some time there and later decided to return home. On their way, they came across Nellakanadoddi Lake near Kanakapura. They decided to play in the lake for some time and then go home.
Around 1.30 pm, they ventured into the lake. They walked towards a rock in the lake. They held onto the rock and were playing while Punitha, sat on the banks as she was suffering from ear pain. Mahendra, Naveen and Deeksha were playing in the water near the rock. The trio tried to climb the rock but slipped and fell into the water. They started drowning and screaming for help as they didn’t know how to swim, police said.
Punitha, who knew swimming, managed to pull Naveen and Deeksha to safety. By the time she could swim back to reach Mahendra, he had drowned. She alerted the public who informed the fire officials. They pulled out Mahendra's body. Shocked by her husband’s death, Punitha lost consciousness and collapsed. All of them were rushed to a nearby hospital and are out of danger. Mahendra's body was shifted to Rajarajeshwarai Medical College for post-mortem.
The fire officers who visited the spot said it was Punitha’s bravery that saved two lives. The other side of the rock was deep since it was excavated for construction work.
Published 23 April 2016, 19:48 IST