Tragedy at Madhya Pradesh’s Keonti waterfall: Mother slips, daughter jumps to save her; both drown

BHOPAL: A mother and daughter were swept away and fell from the famous Keonti waterfall in Rewa district on Tuesday evening while bathing during the Teej festival. Their bodies were recovered on Wednesday morning, as rescue efforts could not be carried out on Tuesday night due to darkness.The deceased were identified as Phoolmati Sondhiya, 50, and her daughter Krisha Sondhiya, 20, residents of Dulehara village panchayat in the Sirmaur area.According to police, the incident occurred around 5 pm on Tuesday. The two went to take a ritual bath in the river near Keonti waterfall for Teej. While bathing, Phoolmati slipped and was carried away by the strong current. Krisha jumped in to save her mother but was also swept away."As the mother fell into the river, the daughter also jumped in to rescue her. But the current was very strong. They were washed away and fell from Keonti waterfall, which is hardly 100 metres from the spot where they were bathing," Sirmaur police station in-charge Deepak Tiwari told TOI.He added, "Our teams reached the spot on Tuesday and the deceased were identified, but rescue could not be carried out due to darkness. The operation resumed in the morning, and both bodies were recovered around 9 am. They were sent for post-mortem and later handed over to the family."