A widowed mason was felled by unspeakable tragedy when his son and daughter drowned in a water tank near their house in Kothanur on Thursday.
Balaji (8) and Suvarna (7) were the children of Raju, a Tamil Nadu native living near the Aiyappa temple in Kothanur after the death of his wife a few years ago.
Raju used to leave his children at home every morning after breakfast, and return in the evening. On Thursday morning, he left as usual around 10 a.m., and the siblings went out to play near the water tank, about 100 m away from their house.
Bodies found
When Sampath, Raju’s friend who resides in the same building came to the house, he didn’t see the children and called Raju, who was still at work. Sampath called neighbours and they found the childrens’ bodies in the tank, which had six feet of water.
