Namakkal: Son washed away in Cauvery as dad takes selfie

Namakkal: In a shocking tragedy, a four-year-old boy was washed away in the surging waters of the Cauvery, when his father tried to take a selfie with his mobile phone at a bridge across the river in Namakkal district on Tuesday.

The boy Dhanvanth, son of Babu and Sofia, from LGP Nagar near Karur is a kinder-garden student at a private school in Karur.

 On Tuesday morning, Babu went to the Cauvery river bridge linking Mohanur to Vangal in the district, with his son by car to witness the flood flows in the river. 

Police said while Babu sat with his son on the 24th pillar of bridge and took a selfie with his mobile phone holding the child on his left hand, he suddenly lost grip due to heavy winds and the child slipped and fell into the river.

On information, Mohanur police rushed to the spot and launched a search for the boy, who was washed away in no time in the heavy current of water. Police suspect that boy was dragged away swiftly, as about two lakh cusecs of water is being released into the Cauvery daily during the last four or five days. 

Several Fire and Rescue services personnel team have been searching for over a distance of 15 kilometres along the river stretch. Police have taken the boy’s father to the police station for interrogation. 

According to sources, the parents celebrated Dhanvanth’s fifth birthday on Monday and they took him to Paramthi Velur bridge to view the flowing river. On Tuesday, Babu was taking his son to drop him at school, but as the child insisted on visiting the river again his father took him to the bridge across Cauvery, leading to this unbearable tragedy.