BERHAMPUR: A 26-year-old woman died after being swept away by strong currents of hilly Ram river when a rope used to cross it snapped at Kalapanka village in Gajapati district on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Kabita Mandal of Kalapanka village under R. Udayagiri block. According to reports, Mandal and two more women from the village were crossing the river to collect firewood from a nearby forest, as they did regularly, using the rope tied across the river.
Kabita fell into the river when the rope suddenly snapped. The other women rushed back to the village and informed residents about the incident. The villagers alerted R. Udayagiri police, and fire services. The fire services team, accompanied by police, reached the spot about 40 minutes after the incident and launched a search operation. The woman’s body was recovered a short distance downstream from where she was swept away.
Police registered an unnatural death case and sent the body to the district headquarters hospital at Paralakhemundi for postmortem examination, said SDPO Rakesh Sahoo.