Surat: A day of routine activities for a local buffalo herder and his children ended in tragedy as his 8-year-old son drowned in the Tapi River near Katargam Lanka Vijay Ghat. The family, who had joined their father at the river bank for their customary bathing routine, is now mourning the loss of their son.
Mukeshbhai Rathod, a resident near Katargam Lankavijay Hanuman Temple and a buffalo herder by profession, was attending to his daily tasks of grazing his buffaloes along the riverbanks behind the Warigriha. Accompanied by his three children – Mehul, aged 8, Anmol, aged 5, and Manisha, aged 12 – it was supposed to be another ordinary day by the Tapi river.
While Rathod was occupied with tending to the cattle, his children set about their usual routine of bathing in the river. As the older sister and younger brother made their way safely out of the water, the family noticed that Mehul was missing.
Initially, Rathod thought that Mehul had possibly left the river and returned home. But when his inquiries with other family members proved fruitless and Mehul was nowhere to be found, Rathod contacted the fire department, fearing his son had tragically drowned.
Upon receiving the alert, a team from the fire department swiftly arrived on the scene to search the river. The grim discovery of Mehul's lifeless body confirmed the family's worst fears. The death of the young boy has left the Rathod family grief-stricken, their routine day by the Tapi River turned into a day of inconsolable loss.
