She set aside her infant son to save a youth from drowning

BHOPAL:  It would perhaps be natural for a young mother to jump into a swollen water body to save her baby. But Rabina Kanjar did was something that few would dare to do she set aside her 10-month-old infant on the ground in a bid to save two young men from drowning. The 30-year-old managed to bring one of the two youngsters to safety. His friend, however, was not so fortunate. 

The incident happened in Bhopal’s Nazirabad area on Friday. Jitendra Ahirwar (23) and Raju Ahirwar (25), both residents of Karahiya Shah village, were on their way to spray pesticide on their soybean crops in Khajuria village. A wide nullah bisects the two villages, and they decided to walk through the low waters of the canal to cross over to Khajuria village.

However, heavy downpour had lashed the area for two-three hours earlier, due to which the nullah was swollen with rain water. Though their friends asked them not to enter the water body, Jitendra and Raju paid no heed to their warning. Rabina watched as the villagers tried to convince them to take the alternate route to the village via Nazirabad. Both of them entered the nullah and tried to wade through, but lost their balance and soon started drowning.

When Jitendra saw Rabina, and sought her help to save his life. She acted immediately. “He shouted, ‘Didi, please save us.’ I recognised that he was from my village. I was feeling nervous on seeing the flooded nullah, but since I know how to swim well, I decided to save them,” she recounted. 

“I placed my son on the grass under the watch of the other villagers standing at the spot, and jumped into the canal. I managed to bring Jitendra to safety, but his friend was swept away,” she added, while lamenting on being unable to save Raju.

According to the local police station in-charge BP Singh, if other bystanders had joined Rabina, Raju could have been saved too. His body was recovered a day later from 15ft-deep water. “Rabina showed extraordinary bravery. She didn’t care for her or infant son’s life, but jumped into the nullah and saved one of the youths. All salutes to her,” Singh said.

The local police honoured Rabina with a cash award. Her brother, who also helped her in the rescue, received a cash prize as well. The city police is now likely to recommend Rabina’s name for higher bravery awards.