Malkangiri: A 12-year-old girl girl reportedly drowned in a pond during Boita Bandana ritual on the auspicious occasion of Kartika Purnima in Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Friday.
The deceased girl has been identified as Sabitri Hantal of Champanagar village near Malkangiri town.
According to sources, the minor girl along with her friends went to a nearby pond this morning where people were set afloat boats made of plantain or banana stems and other similar natural and traditional materials laden with various offerings such as flowers, coins, ‘Kaudis’ or cowries, ‘Pana’ or betel leaves, ‘Guā’ or betel nuts, along with a lighted lamp. She drowned while collecting coins from the miniature boats sailed by devotees. Her friends fled from the spot without seeking help to rescue her. After a frantic search, her family later recovered her body from the waterbody.