CHENNAI: A woman, her daughter and her niece drowned in a lake near Chengalpet on Saturday when they went to wash clothes and take bath in the water body.
A police team from the Chengalpet police station recovered the bodies and sent them to the government hospital at Chengalpet for postmortem. After the incident, a pal of gloom descended on Pon Vilaintha Kalathur in Chengalpet taluk.
Quoting those who were at the spot during the accident, police said B Rajeshwari, 35, a widow, took her daughter B Subashini, 10, and her relative Satish Kumar's daughter S Devadarshini, 6, to the 600-acre lake belonging to the public works department.
As Rajeshwari was washing clothes with assistance from Subashini, Devadarshini was sitting close to them playing with water.
Police said Devadarshini fell into the lake when she tried to catch a floating leaf. In a bid to rescue her, Rajeshwari jumped into the water. However, both of them got trapped in sludge and drowned. Later, Subashini also jumped in to save them and drowned.
Other villagers who were washing clothes or bathing nearby tried to save the three but in vain. They then alerted the fire and rescue services personnel and the police control room. Later, the three bodies were fished out.
A team from the Chengalpet taluk police station rushed to the place and sent the bodies to Chengalpet government hospital for postmortem. A case has been registered under CrPC Section 174 (unnatural death).
Preliminary inquiries revealed that after Rajeshwari's husband Balasubramanian died due to ailments last year she began working in a private firm to make ends meet and to bring up her daughter.
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