Despite 53 hours of struggle, six-year-old Kaveri could not be saved

The body of six-year-old Kaveri, who had fallen into an open borewell, has been retrieved The rescue teams had worked tirelessly for over 53 hours, but could not reach her in time  The last rites for the child were held on Monday night

Kaveri had fallen into a 400-foot borewell when she had gone to collect wood along with her friends on April 22. She was stuck at a depth of 30 ft. An NDRF rescue team, along with Hatti Gold Mines engineers, had been working for three days to dig a side tunnel to try and reach the child.

They had managed to supply oxygen to Kaveri, but it could not reach her as unexpectedly huge rocks and soil blocked the rescue tunnel. By the time rescuers reached on Monday night, it was too late.

Her body was retrieved around 11.34 pm on Monday. Later, her body was shifted to Kokatanur government hospital for post-mortem procedure under the supervision of Athani Tahsildar Umadevi.

Kaveri's parents and relatives, who were hoping for a miracle, were inconsolable. The whole village had gathered at the site to mourn the little girl who lost her life for someone's negligence.

The borewell owner Shankar Hipparagi is absconding, and efforts are on to trace him.