Mother, minor daughter swept away in canal in Meerut

A 32-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter were swept away by the river current of the Ganges canal on Sunday. The bodies of the victims, identified as Jyoti Kumar (32) and Bhavya (2), were found about 15 km apart after a five-hour search operation along the canal, police said.

SP (rural), Aniruddh Kumar, told, “The child was pulled out by divers from a spot about 100 meters from where she fell. Her mother's body was found about 15 km away, in Baleni village of Baghpat.”

Rohta SHO Ravindra Kumar Singh said, “The rivers here are linked by a canal. It is possible that the woman's body may have passed through this stretch of the canal. Once we came to know about the incident, we alerted the local control. Her husband identified the body.”

Ashish Kumar, husband victim, told the police that the couple had three daughters. They got married about 10 years ago. “Their desire to have a son brought them here to the banks of the Ganges canal. The priest asked them to perform some specific rituals,” the SHO said, adding that Ashish had reached the canal with his wife and youngest daughter. He was waiting in a car nearby when Jyoti slipped and fell into the canal with the child.