Kollam: Dashing the hopes of everyone in Kerala, the body of Devananda, aged six, was found in Ithikkara riverbank today. Since yesterday social media was abuzz with pleas to trace Devananda, after she went missing from her home.
Frantic searches were also made on the ground with police, relatives, neighbours, etc. joining in. Devananda, a Grade I student of Saraswati Vidya Nikethan School in Kollam, went missing, when her mother went out to wash clothes. Although, she followed her mother, Devananda was asked to go inside and look after her three month old brother.
Fifteen minutes later when her mother returned, Devananda, was missing. Search began quickly. Police and villagers combed the neighbourhood and messages were sent to investigate suspicious vehicles. Expert divers had been searching for her in the river, which flows just 50 meters from her house.
The body was found today just 500 to 600 meters from her house on the riverbank. No signs of violence is found on the body and the preliminary conclusion is that the child had drowned.
Condolences flowed from the political and film world. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Minister, E. P. Jayarajan, expressed their condolences. BJP President K. Surendran took to social media to condole the family of Devananda. Actors Mamootty and Kunchacko Boban too expressed their grief. Director Major Ravi has also condoled the demise of little Devananda.
