India / 3 women remove sarees, toss them into water to save 2 men from drowning in TN

PERAMBALUR: Three women from near Kottarai are receiving praise for rescuing two youngsters from drowning in the waters of the Kottarai dam in Perambalur district on August 6. Thinking fast, the women removed their own sarees and threw them into the water when they realised four young men were about to drown. While they managed to save two of the youth, the other two drowned. 

On August 6, a group of 12 youngsters from Siruvachchur village went to play cricket near Kottarai village.

After playing, they went to the village to bathe in the Kottarai dam.

The Kottarai dam is being constructed across the Marudaiyaru river near the village at a cost of Rs 108 crore. Due to heavy rains over the past week, the depth of the water in the dam was between 15 to 20 feet.

The three women from Adanurai, Senthamizh Selvi (38), Muthamaal (34) and Ananthavalli (34), had just finished bathing and washing their clothes when the men arrived. 

"We were about to go home when the group arrived. They looked around the dam and asked us about bathing here. We warned them that the water would be deep. But four of the youngsters somehow slipped and fell in," Senthamizh Selvi said.

"We removed our sarees without thinking of anything and threw them into the water. We managed to save two boys but the other two drowned while we were trying to save them. We were inside the waters but still couldn’t reach them," she said. 

The youngsters who survived were identified as Karthick and Senthilvelan while the deceased were Pavithran (17) and Ranjith (25), a trainee doctor.

Perambalur firefighters reached the spot and recovered their bodies and sent them to Perambalur district headquarters government hospital for autopsy.

Selvi added that the place posed a risk as the water was too deep.