GUWAHATI: A man in Assam wanted to commit suicide but God had other plans for him.
The moment a seemingly determined Lakhman Swargiary jumped into the mighty river, his mind changed. The gentle giant of this river known to wreak havoc during floods every year carried the man for almost ten hours and over 100 km away to safety.
On Wednesday at around 8 pm, the 27-year-old Swargiary, who hails from Dhulabari under Tamulpur in Baksa district, reached the Saraighat bridge in Guwahati from his village riding a two-wheeler. He kept his belongings including purse, mobile phone, identity documents, slippers besides two-wheeler on the bridge and jumped into the Brahmaputra.
Soon, he noticed a chunk of water-hyacinth and banana leaves floating on the river. He caught hold of it and kept swimming. After over ten hours of swimming overnight, he was rescued by a boatman at Bohori in Lower Assam’s Barpeta district the next morning.
The boatman, Kalachand Ali, was ferrying a pregnant woman. He said Swargiary was without any clothes at the time of his rescue. Apparently, he had taken off his clothes so he could swim freely.
“I was taking a pregnant woman to a hospital. Suddenly, I heard someone screaming for help. I looked here and there and finally, could see him. I took the boat towards him and rescued him,” Ali said.
Once they reached the river bank, the police was informed and soon, an ambulance arrived. Subsequently, a shivering and weak Swargiary was taken to a hospital. Later, he was handed over to his family by the police.
Without citing any reasons, Swargiary told journalists that he wanted to end his life.
“I wanted to die and so, I dived into the river. However, I could not die,” he said, adding, “When I was in water, I wanted to survive”.