Tamil Nadu: Three Vedic Students Drown In Temple Tank, 9 Such Deaths In 48 Hours

Three young Vedic students drowned in a temple tank in Tiruvallur on Tuesday morning, bringing the total number of drowning deaths in Tamil Nadu to nine in just two days amid a spate of such incidents across the state.

The incident on Tuesday occurred around 6 a.m. at the Veeraraghava Perumal Temple, a Vishnu shrine in Tiruvallur district. The deceased have been identified as R Veeraraghavan (24), S Venkatraman (17), and M Hariharan (16), as per a report on India Today. The trio, part of a group of five students undergoing Vedic education, were visiting the temple for the Chithirai Brahmotsavam festival and had entered the temple tank to perform a ritual bath.

According to preliminary reports, one of the students accidentally slipped while performing sandhyavandhanam, a traditional prayer ritual. In an attempt to rescue him, two others jumped into the water but were unable to make it back to safety. Fire and rescue teams were alerted and later recovered the bodies. They were sent to a local government hospital for postmortem examination.

In a statement, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives. He announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 3 lakh for each of the bereaved families.

A Pattern Of Drownings

Among the other tragic events, another one was reported in Tiruvallur, where cousins Harish and Venkatesan, both 17, were swept away while bathing in the Kosasthalaiyar River on Monday. In Theni district, a 10-year-old child drowned at Chinna Suruli Falls on Monday evening. The region saw another fatality on Tuesday when a Class XII student drowned in the Mullaiperiyar River while bathing in Gudalur, as per a report on New Indian Express.

In Thoothukudi, two more lives were lost on Monday night. A 16-year-old girl and an autorickshaw driver drowned in the sea near Mottai Gopuram under unclear circumstances.

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