Woman drowns in Sutlej during Ganesh Visarjan

The woman lost her balance while immersing idol

A pall of gloom descended on Habib Gunj area of Miller Gunj after a 30-year-old woman drowned in the Sutlej while immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha in the river on Thursday. The woman had gone to the river with area residents on the occasion of Ganesh Visarjan.

The deceased has been identified as Neetu, who was unmarried. The police handed over the body to her family after conducting postmortem at the civil hospital. Neetu’s brother Sunil Kumar said the locals had organised Ganesh Utsav in the locality and they have installed an idol of Lord Ganesha. On Thursday evening, after performing pooja, the area residents took the idol to the Sutlej for immersing it.

“Neetu went in to the water holding the idol, but she lost her balance and drowned. They immediately informed the police and initiated rescue operation with the help of locals. The rescuers had to struggle due to the dark, and later her body was fished out from the river on Friday morning,” Sunil said.

The police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) following the statement of family members of the woman.

Earlier on September 11, 2016, four youths of Islam Gunj area, all in their early 20s, had drowned in the Sutlej after they lost their footing in the deep waters while immersing a Ganesha idol near Ladhowal. After the incident, the residents had blocked traffic at Jagraon Bridge demanding construction of a ramp for devotees over the river.