Following up Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's directive to give compensation of Rs.1 lakh each to the families of the six children from Maduththupatti, who drowned in the village ‘oorani' on Monday evening, Speaker R. Avudaiyappan handed over the assistance to their parents and relatives on Tuesday.
After the panchayat union primary school in their hamlet declared a half-day holiday on Monday afternoon in view of the Sri Mahideshwarai temple celebrations, M. Kalaiselvan (8), K. Gowtham (8), M. Kamal (8), C. Siva (8), P. Arun Pandi (9) and his brother P. Periyaraj (8) went to the ‘oorani' for a bath.
The waterbody had been deepened recently and they drowned.
When their parents and relatives started searching for the children, they found their clothes on the bank of the ‘oorani.'
They searched the tank and soon, the village, which was preparing for the temple celebrations, plunged into grief as the bodies were recovered.
The bodies were handed over to the parents after post-mortem at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, where the compensation was also handed over.
“The Chief Minister spoke to me this morning, enquired about this tragic incident and asked me to convey his condolences to the families... He ordered to give a compensation of Rs.1 lakh each to the [victims'] families.
“As some of the parents have already undergone family planning surgery, the State government will bear all the expenditure to be incurred for the re-canalisation procedure if they are willing,” said Collector M. Jayaraman after the compensation was handed over to the victims' families.
