Act of bravery: Girl rescues drowning cousin by jumping into overflowing Sowparnika river

Mangalore Today News Network

 Hemmady, July 24, 2015: A daring act of bravery by a  tenth standard girl who plunged into the overflowing Sowparnika river to rescue her drowning cousin, has been reported from Salageri village. The incident which took place on July 20 has come to light quite late.

The brave girl is Jyothi Marathi, a tenth standard student of Sri Mookambika High School. She along with her cousin Mamatha had headed to school that day unaware that a holiday has been declared due to heavy rain. However, when they came to know about the holiday halfway through  from their friends, the girls decided to return home when Mamatha suddenly slipped and fell into the river.

Jyothi realising that any delay would cost Mamatha’s life plunged into the river without any second thought. The two girls  were pushed by the strong currents upto a distance of 200 meters when  they had reached a place where the depth of the water was less and managed to  get to the banks. Both who had  suffered minor injuries, later returned home and informed their parents about the incident.

The rescued girl Mamatha, who is the daughter of Jyothi’s maternal uncle,  had undergone an open heart surgery some time back. She is a ninth standard student.

Jyothi’s daring act has won her a lot of commendation from her school teachers as well as villagers. The school authorities have now sent a circular to all parents to be cautious when sending their children to school when there are  heavy rains and rivers are in spate.