Bhubaneswar: The joy of celebrating Kartik Purnima with the traditional ‘Boita Bandana’ (sailing miniature boats) turned into tragedy Friday, as five children drowned in separate incidents across Odisha.
The children, aged between five and 12 years, lost their lives while participating in the annual ritual, which involves floating colourful miniature boats in ponds, rivers, and other water bodies.
In Balasore, two girls, around five years old, drowned in a pond at Panishapada village under Basta police limits. The victims, daughters of Dilip Kumar Das and Manas Nanda, had gone to collect the miniature boats from the village pond in the absence of their families. Their bodies were later recovered by the authorities, police said.
In another incident in Balasore, a three-year-old boy drowned in a pond in Saundia village under Khaira police limits, police added.
A similar incident took place in Cuttack district, where a three-year-old boy, identified as the son of Pradipta Bhoi, drowned while trying to collect the boats from a pond in Karamuan village, located in the Salepur block.
In Malkangiri district, a 12-year-old girl, Sabitri Hantal, drowned in a pond in Champanagar after she had slipped into the deep water while attempting to retrieve coins that had been placed on the miniature boats as part of the festival, police said.
Despite being quickly rescued and rushed to a nearby hospital, she was declared dead upon arrival, they added.
PTI