A palpable sense of tension and grief enveloped Halekanakapur village in Koppal taluk on Friday after the villagers learnt that two girls, who had gone to wash clothes in a nearby pond had slipped and drowned. A frantic search for the bodies till late evening by the police, fire force personnel and locals yielded no result.
But, to their utter shock, the villagers learnt on Saturday that the two girls were in fact alive, and had been tracked down by the police in Koppal. All the drama was the result of a rumour spread by a friend of the two girls, on their insistence, as they wanted to flee their homes.
Three girls, all aged 16, had gone to a pond to wash clothes on Friday noon. However, one of the girls returned and informed the villagers that the other two slipped into the pond and drowned. Believing her, the people informed the police and searched in vain for the bodies till evening. Meanwhile, the police learnt that the girls had run away to Koppal and took them into custody on Friday night. When questioned, one of the girls said that her family had fixed her marriage with a person against her wishes. “Hence, I decided to flee from the house”, she said.
The other girl said, “I had no father and was upset with my mother as she often scolded me. When my friend told me of her plan to run away from the house as she was upset with her family for fixing her marriage, I helped her. Our other friend is not to blame as she only told the villagers what we wanted her to tell them. We have committed a mistake, forgive us”, she told the police. Superintendent of Police B.S. Prakash told DC that police took the girls into custody on Friday night in Koppal and produced them before the Juvenile Justice Board as they were minors. Both girls have no fathers. They decided to flee from their houses as their mothers often scolded them, the officer said.