A woman is seen at the bottom of a deep well. Even as she holds on to a rope tied to her waist, she manouevres herself, hovering inches above the water, and ties the rope onto a dog stuck in the well. The dog is pulled up and rescued and the woman pulls herself up and out of the well.
The visual is from Mangaluru and the woman is 40-year-old animal rescue Rajani Damodar Shetty.
Ambassador of #Humanity
— IMShubham (@shubham_jain999) February 1, 2020
Salute to this woman Rajani Shetty from Mangalore who went down in the well & saved a stray dog.@D_Roopa_IPS @ParveenKaswan @RandeepHooda @ARanganathan72 @anandmahindra @Iyervval @YRDeshmukh @ActorMadhavan @PawanKalyan @TandonRaveena @ShefVaidya @ndcnn pic.twitter.com/e5uKoZkV5k
On Thursday, Rajani was alerted by children playing near an old well near Ballalbagh in Mangaluru that a stray dog was stuck inside the well, which was 30 feet deep. Despite not knowing to swim, Rajani decided to enter the well to rescue the dog.
With the help of a rope tied to her, Rajani entered the well and tried to cajole the stray dog stuck in one corner of the well. Rajani said that the dog was scared and even tried to bite her but after a few attempts, she managed to tie a rope around the dog.
"I was a bit nervous but at the same time, I knew I could not allow the dog to die. I did not want to take a second chance," Rajani told Times of India. '
The dog was pulled up by a group of people standing on the edge of the boundary of the well. Rajani then pulled herself up and out of the well.
Rajani's efforts to save the stray daug were lauded on social media with many describing her act as heroic.
Meet Rajani Damodar Shetty, from #Mangaluru
— Farah Khan (@FaraaahKhan) January 31, 2020
who rescued a dog that fell into 30 ft well. She didn't knew how to swim, still this dog lover tied rope & rescued the dog.
Happy to see that humanity is still alive.@Iyervval @amritabhinder @PetaIndia @AartiTikoo @BeautifulBluru pic.twitter.com/hE2yHuxoKT
Brave lady with a heart of gold, from Mangaluru rescues a dog which fell in the well. pic.twitter.com/6veLtwmQwp
— Vibhinna Ideas (@Vibhinnaideas) February 2, 2020
This brave woman, Rajani Shetty of Mangaluru, deserves an award for risking her life to rescue a dog from a well. https://t.co/zPRUXicyA5
— Gautham Machaiah (@GauthamMachaiah) January 31, 2020
Rajani has been feeding stray dogs for almost a decade. She takes care of 14 stray dogs at home and feeds hundreds of other stray dogs living in her neighbourhood.