Two minor girls drown in SWKH river, one saved

Mawkyrwat, April 21: Two minor girls from Wahsiej village neat Mawkyrwat in South West Khasi Hills District lost their lives after they drowned while swimming in the Rilang river on Sunday. A minor girl, who is the elder sister of one of the deceased, was rescued by a 14-year-old braveheart after she nearly drowned attempting to rescue her sibling.
According to locals, the incident occurred at around 1 pm when four minor girls from Wahsiej village went to Thwei Breimeirit for swimming in the Rilang river.
Shabakmenlang Wanniang (16) drowned in the river and Aishabankmen Thongni (14) lost her life trying to help her friend.
Seeing her friend and her sister drowning, Saphibanroy Thongni (15), elder sister of Aishabankmen, tried to save her but was dragged down into the river. Elambok Dkhar (14) who was upstream noticed the girl drowning and jumped into the water to rescue her, the locals said.
“After jumping in the water to save her, and during the struggle, somehow she got on the top of me and I was about to drown myself, but I managed to swim to the bank. I jumped again into the water and after struggling for some time I was able to pull her out of the water,” Elambok said, adding that he had no idea at that time that two other girls had already drowned.
On learning of the incident, locals rushed to the spot and fished out the bodies of the minor victims.
Mawkyrwat Police later conducted a spot inquest and ruled out any foul play in the deaths. The relatives of the deceased girls prayed for and were granted post-mortem exemption by the Magistrate after which the bodies were handed over for their last rites.