A 45-year-old man, who attempted to swim across Cauvery to reach Mettur where his pregnant daughter was taken to the Government Hospital, drowned in the river on Sunday. His body was found on Monday.
According to police, E. Perumal’s daughter Sumathi had developed labour pain and the family, including him, his wife Kamatchi, Sumathi, her husband Manikandan and his father Venkatachalam, started in a car from Gopinatham in Karnataka to admit her at the Government Hospital at Mettur. At the check post at Palar in Karnataka, the police permitted only Sumathi, Kamatchi and Manikandan to proceed to Tamil Nadur. They asked Perumal and Venkatachalam to return to their house in Karnataka. However, both decided to swim across the river to reach Mettur and jumped into the river around 10.30 a.m. on Sunday.
After an hour, swimming across the 200 metre-wide river at Palar, Venkatachalam reached the Tamil Nadu side. (The river is between the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border). But, he could not trace Perumal.
The family then informed the Fire and Rescue Services personnel, who searched for him. Due to darkness, the search was called off on Sunday and resumed on Monday. At 11 a.m. on Monday, Perumal’s body was found in the river at Soripallam. But confusion prevailed over the jurisdiction of the police station limits as Madheswaran Malai Police Station in Karnataka said the spot comes under Tamil Nadu jurisdiction. Later, the police confirmed that the spot comes under the Chennampatti Forest Range in Erode district.
The Kolathur police informed Bargur police in Erode district at noon on Monday and the body was shifted to the Government Hospital in Mettur. Based on a complaint from Perumal’s son Mariyappan, Bargur police registered a case. Post-mortem was conducted and the body was handed over to the relatives on Monday evening.