Tamil Nadu: Woman stranded on sand dune rescued

RAMESWARAM: The Coastal Security Group police rescued a Sri Lankan Tamil woman of Indian origin and her three children early on Thursday, as they were found stranded in one of the ‘manal thittus’ (the series of sand mounds that make up the so-called Adams Bridge) in the shallow sea waters of the Palk Strait off Arichalmunai point near Dhanushkodi, the land’s southeastern end in this pilgrim-island.

The 28-year-old woman refugee, Ms. Thangam, with her three children, Lakshika (5), Aisthika (4) and one-year-old baby Subeekshan, had been waiting, apparently for a local boat to ferry them to the shores of Rameswaram when they were spotted by the CSG police and safely brought to the Mandapam marine coastal police station.

Enquiries revealed that Thangam, who hails from Thoothukudi, had married a Sri Lankan Tamil Vigneswaran some six years back and had been taken by her husband to Northern Sri Lanka.

After Vigneswaran had left for Saudi Arabia in search of a job, Thangam was said to be frequently embroiled in domestic quarrels with her mother-in-law.

Thangam then decided to return to her mother’s place in Thoothukudi and had taken a clandestine boat to Rameswaram from Mannar. Police enquiries revealed that she had purportedly paid an agent '1 lakh to help her ferry back to Rameswaram along with her children, en route to her native Thoothukudi. Further investigations are on.