Woman jumps into Almatti canal with four children; kids die, locals rescue her

VIJAYAPURA: A woman attempted suicide after throwing her four children into the Almatti left bank canal near Benal village in Nidagundi taluk on Monday. While all the four children died after drowning, the woman was rescued by locals and was shifted to a hospital where she is recovering.

While the woman was identified as Bhagya, the deceased children are Tanu Nigaraj Bhajantri (5), Raksha Ningaraj Bhajantri (3), Hasan Ningaraj Bhajantri and Hussain Ningaraj Bhajantri (13 months), residents of Telgi village in Kolhar taluk. Bhagya’s husband Lingaraju is a member of the Telgi gram panchayat. Lingaraj would take part in the Muharram procession in the village and hence, had named his sons as Hasan and Hussain.

Mallappa Sale, a local, threw the charging cable of his electic scooter and managed to pull out Bhagya from the water. Other locals too joined in the recue and fished out the bodies of the two girl children. Fire and Recue personnel, who arrived later, fished out the bodies of the two boys.

According to Lingaraj, his wife Bhagya had an ongoing fued with her family over sharing property and on Monday, they had an argument during which her brothers reportedly said that they would not share the properties with her. While returning home, Lingaraj’s two-wheeler ran out of petrol near a bridge across the canal and he went to fetch fuel. When he returned, some locals told him that someone had jumped into the canal, he said.

However, Bhagya’s brother Pampapathi claimed Lingaraju had run up loans of Rs 30 lakh and was pestering his father Mallappa to give him a share of the property, but Mallappa had refused. This had led to domestic disputes, he added.

Further, Pampapathi claimed that Bhagya had told him about Lingaraju’s suicide pact wherein he had suggested to her to jump into the canal with the children while he would commit suicide by hanging.

Meanwhile, Bhagya is being treated in the ICU of the district hospital where her condition is said to be stable. The Nidagundi police have taken up further investigation.