KHAMMAM/MAHABUBABAD: A man and his scientist daughter were washed away in the Akeru Vagu on Sunday morning at Purushothamagudem on the outskirts of Maripeda mandal headquarters in Mahabubabad district.
The victims, Nunavath Motilal and his daughter Ashwini, residents of Gangaram thanda in Gatekarepally mandal of Bhadradri Kothagudem district, were on their way to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad. Ashwini, 26, was a scientist at the ICAR - National Institute of Biotic Stress Management’s School of Crop Resistance System Research, Raipur. The young scientist and her father were to take a flight to Raipur.
According to information, the car in which they were travelling was swept away in a wave of floodwater that rose over the bridge of the stream. The mobile phones of Motilal and Ashwini went dead soon after they conveyed their predicament to their relatives.
Scientist was going back to Raipur to join work
Upon receiving information, Maripeda circle inspector S Raju Kumar, sub-inspector B Satish and their team rushed to the spot for search operations. The team discovered the girl’s body and search is on for her father.
B Satish told the media that the body of Ashwini was retrieved from the Akeru Vagu in the afternoon and shifted to the Mahabubabad Government Hospital mortuary for a postmortem while the body of Motilal was fished out from the river in the evening.
Fate cuts short life of brilliant student
Ashwini dreamed of becoming a top agriculture scientist but fate had other plans. She came to Gangaram thanda on Thursday to attend the engagement function of her brother Ashok Kumar who works in the Navy in Chennai. The Motilal’s family celebrated the engagement function in big way.
Ashwini studied BSc (Agriculture) in Aswaraopet Agriculture University and won a gold medal for her outstanding performance in studies. Initially she had worked in Hyderabad before she was transferred to New Delhi and from there to Raipur in Chhattishgarh.
According to locals, Ashwini was a brilliant student and had dreams of becoming a great scientist one day and serve her village. Bansilal, a friend of Motilal, said her death was a great loss to the village. He recalled how Ashwini postponed her marriage plans to focus on her goal.