Woman jumps into lake with child in Ariyalur

A shocking incident unfolded in Ariyalur district on Tuesday evening, where a woman ended her life by jumping into a lake with her younger son moments after taking a selfie with both her children.
According to police, Raghupathi (35), a construction worker from Pungangudi–Athanur village near Vikramangalam, had married Pandi Lakshmi (33) of Dindigul district in 2017 after the two fell in love while working in Tiruppur.
The couple has two sons — Lokesh (7) and Kavilesh (3).
While the couple usually travelled to Tiruppur together for construction work, Raghupathi had not gone for several months.
After the Deepavali festival, he took the two boys to Tiruppur in search of work.
On Tuesday, Pandi Lakshmi boarded a bus from Tiruppur to Ariyalur with her children.
She got down at Ambalavaran Kattalai near Vikramangalam in the evening. At Keezhakotteri, near the bus stand, she took a selfie with her sons on her mobile phone.
Police said that shortly after, she left her elder son Lokesh at the edge of a nearby lake, tied three-year-old Kavilesh to her waist using a dupatta, and jumped into the water.
Lokesh cried out for help as he witnessed the tragic scene.
Passersby, hearing the boy’s cries, rushed to him. When Lokesh told them what had happened, they jumped into the lake and pulled the mother and child out.
However, both were found dead.
Following a complaint, Vikramangalam police arrived at the spot, recovered the bodies, and sent them to the Ariyalur Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.
Police have registered a case and are conducting an intensive investigation into the circumstances that led Pandi Lakshmi to take the extreme step.