2 youths drown to death during 10th-day ritual of their grandfather in Odisha’s Balasore

Soro: Two youths met their watery grave today during the 10th-day (Dasah) ritual of their grandfather while they were taking a bath in a village pond at Patharakata of Bagudi panchayat under Soro police limits in Balasore district.

The two deceased were identified as Sushant Kumar Padhi, the son of Pitambar Padhi from Wada village and Chandan Kar from Bidu locality in the district.

According to a police source, the youths were taking a bath after tonsuring their heads in observance of the funeral rituals for their departed grandfather Bishnu Charan Padhi. The duo went deep into the water at the Dasah Ghat and drowned.

After quite a long time, some relatives of the youths searched for them but to no avail. The two were later fished out from the pond and rushed to a government-run hospital in Soro for treatment. However, doctors at the health facility declared them ‘brought dead’.

A pall of gloom descended on the village after news of their untimely deaths spread.