Hundred of people came together to search for Devananda, a 6 year old girl at Kollam District, Kerala and thousands hsared updates on social media platforms, but all the prayers and efforts went unheard as Devananda’s dead body was found today morning.
Her body was found floating in the Ithikkara Lake, near her house in Elavoor on Friday Morning.
Circle Inspector, Vipin Kumar confirmed her identity.
On Thursday, the diving team conducted search operations in the Ithikkara Lake but could not find anything, and by dusk, it was ruled out that the 6 year old Devananda may have fallen into the lake by accident.
On Friday morning, the residents of the locality spotted a body in the lake. A person told TNM that it is possible that on Thursday the body would have gotten stuck in the mud which is why it wasn’t found. Her body was found just 700 metred away from her home.
Devananda’s body has swelled up and her hair were entangled with a branch of a tree in the lake. Her body has been recovered and will be sent to a hospital for examination. Near her body, a brown dupatta was also found which is yet to be determined whether it belonged to her or the mother.
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Devananda went missing on Thursday morning, as per her mother, she went to wash clothes near her house at around quarter past ten in the morning and her daughter followed her but she asked Devananda to go back and wait in the house. The mother said that when she reached home Devananda was nowhere to be found.
The mother said, “I did not note anything suspicious. She never goes to any other houses to play; she plays only within the premises of the house,”.
After the mother informed the police and her neighbours, a massive search operation began for the little child who was nicknamed “Ponnu” by her family. Police personnel, local people, diving and dog squads were deployed for the search operations.
As the father received the news of her daughter been missing, he took a flight for Kerala from overseas where he is working. However, when he reached his native place, he found out that his daughter is dead.
People across social media including celebrities shared the pictures of the 6 year old in an attempt to help the search operations.
On Thursday, fake news started getting circulated on social media platforms claiming Devananda’s dead body has been found and the police had to intervene, issuing a warning that action will be taken against people who share the fake news. Police feared that the fake news will discourage people from looking for the girl.
The residents in the neighbourhood claimed that Devananda was not a kid who would wander off without informing her mother first.