A happy vacation in Kerala's Alappuzha turned tragic for a Mumbai family, when a 2-year-old child drowned to death on Tuesday.
The toddler named Anvitha had started a backwater cruise along with her father Shivaprasad Shetty, mother Soumya and brother Brahith, on Tuesday morning.
At around 5 pm, the houseboat had anchored itself after the day's cruise near Mundakkal bridge. The family was to spend the night in the houseboat, but little did they know what the evening had in store for them.
A little after 5 pm, the family members were spending time in the front portion of the boat, with the children playing, when tragedy struck. Nedumudi police said that Anvitha slipped from her father's arms and accidentally fell into the water. In a state of panic, Shivaprasad too jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue the toddler, but in vain.
Soon, rescuers pulled Shivaprasad out of the water and also found Anvitha, who had by then gone under the boat.
The Times of India quoted a resident Sheejo as saying:
"Shetty was not a swimmer, somehow managed to hold on to a tyre tied on the boat and hence rescuers could save him. If he did not hold on that tyre, he too might have gone under the boat. After saving him, residents soon tracked Anvitha and brought her up by 5.15 pm."
Although she was rescued from the water in less than 10 minutes, Anvitha was declared brought dead at the hospital.
After finishing the post-mortem procedures at Alappuzha Medical College, Anvitha's body was handed over to the family on Wednesday afternoon, the police confirmed. The family has reportedly started back to Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the Nedumudi police have registered a case of unnatural death and said that it was a case of accidental drowning.