On Friday morning, Kerala woke up to the tragic news of a six-year-old girl’s body being recovered from a lake, a day after she had gone missing from her home in Kollam. And while residents had suspected foul play in the death of six-year-old Devananda, the post-mortem of the child has revealed that she died due to drowning.
The finding substantiates the police inquest report that stated there were no signs of assault.
Speaking to TNM, investigation officers said that forensic experts who conducted the post-mortem at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College have stated that Devananda died due to drowning. “We are yet to receive the post-mortem report, but forensic experts said that there are no signs of any assault and that the child died by drowning,” said Vipin Kumar, station house officer of Kannanalloor police station.
It was on Thursday morning that Devananda, who was playing in the front of her house, went missing. A massive search operation was carried out by police officials and residents in and around the region, while social media posts about the missing child went viral in just hours,with even celebrities sharing the poster. But the efforts of the state ended in futility with the body of the girl being discovered from a lake near her house.
It was with a heavy heart that residents witnessed the gut-wrenching sight of Devananda’s father Pradeep going to the Ithikkara lake, about 500 metre away from his home near Elavoor, to confirm that the recovered body was of his only daughter.
Devananda was found wearing the same clothes that she was wearing when she went missing. The daughter of Pradeep Kumar and Dhanya had gone missing at around 10.15am on Thursday. Dhanya had told reporters that Devananda had followed her out when she went to wash clothes near the house, but she had told her daughter to return to the house. When Dhanya returned home, Devananda was missing.
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