Kanpur (UP), Jun 5 (PTI) Three members of a family, including a teenage girl, drowned in the Ganga river in Billhaur area of Kanpur while performing rituals on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra on Thursday, police said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Billhaur) Amarnath Yadav said the incident took place when 13-year-old Priyanka Nishad went into the river to take a dip and got trapped in deep water.
The girl’s uncle Balram Nishad (21) and his brother-in-law Sandeep Nishad (19) jumped in to rescue her, he said.
“However, neither Balram nor Sandeep knew how to swim, and both began to drown,” the officer said.
Local villagers and private divers immediately rushed to help. They managed to pull out Balram and Priyanka, while more divers were called in to locate Sandeep, he said.
All three victims, residents of Kallupurwa village in Sen Paschim Para, were taken to the Community Health Centre in Billhaur, where doctors declared them brought dead, he added.
The extended Nishad family had gathered by the riverbank outside Kallupurwa village to perform the ‘mundan’ (tonsuring) ceremony of a child, the officer added.
According to Hindu scriptures, Ganga Dussehra marks the day the holy river Ganga descended to Earth from Lord Shiva’s locks, moved by King Bhagirath’s penance. The day is considered auspicious and symbolises virtue, penance, and the collective well-being of humanity. PTI COR KIS DV DV
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