Mysterious drowning death of 6-year girl leaves Kerala shocked

Devananda, a six-year-old girl, died due to drowning, revealed the report of the primary autopsy done at the Medical College hospital here on Friday. The girl went missing from her house near Kollam on Thursday morning. The matter was taken up by the TV channels and it also went viral on social media. The people in Kerala including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were shocked when her body was found in a lake near her house by the police divers at 7.30 a.m. on Friday.

"She was such a nice little girl and was the darling of our locality. We just cannot believe that she walked out of her home and slipped and fell into the lake. If so, then why did the divers who searched at the same place where her body was taken out today, missed it yesterday. We feel something bad has happened to her," said a neighbour. Her father, Pradip Kumar, arrived here early morning from Oman as soon as he got to know that his daughter was missing. However, he received the news of her death when he reached home.

No sexual assault has been reported in the preliminary autopsy report. The detailed report is expected in two days time. "We will continue our probe," said a top police official connected with the case. Her mother, Dhanya, was washing clothes outside her home and the little girl was playing inside the house. "I was talking to her as I was washing the clothes and then for about 10 minutes, hearing no sound, I went and looked inside the house but she was not there. I soon alerted the neighbours and despite a search she was not found. Then we informed the police," said Dhanya.

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