Uttarakhand Tragedy: Mother jumps into river hours after 14-year-old son dies

A 14-year-old boy died after collapsing at a sports ground in Pithoragarh, and his mother died hours later after jumping into the Saryu River. The twin deaths have left their family and residents of Made village in shock.

In Short

• Jatin Joshi collapsed at Jhaulkhet sports ground after his morning run
• Doctors at the district hospital declared the 14-year-old dead on arrival
• Officials said preliminary reports pointed to a possible cardiac arrest

A heartbreaking double tragedy has left a village in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district in mourning after a mother took her own life just hours after the sudden death of her 14-year-old son.

The incident took place in Made village, near the Pithoragarh district headquarters. According to officials, 14-year-old Jatin Joshi had gone for his routine morning run at the Jhaulkhet sports ground around 6 am on Saturday. Shortly after completing his run, he suddenly fell unconscious on the field.

His mother, Poonam Joshi, rushed him to the district hospital, but doctors declared him dead on arrival. Preliminary reports suggest that the teenager may have suffered a cardiac arrest.

Devastated by the loss of her only son, Poonam reportedly went into deep shock. Instead of returning home from the hospital, she boarded a taxi headed towards Gangolihat. Nearly 30 kilometres away, near Ghat, she asked the driver to stop and suddenly jumped into the Saryu River.

The taxi driver and local residents immediately tried to rescue her and alerted the police. Teams from the police and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) launched a search operation and later recovered her body from the river.

Family members said Poonam had already suffered a personal tragedy two years ago when her daughter died. The loss of her son, followed by her own death within hours, has shattered the family and plunged the entire village into grief.

The twin deaths have left residents of Made village and nearby areas in shock. Police have sent both bodies for post-mortem examination and initiated further legal proceedings.

The tragedy has cast a pall over the region, with many struggling to come to terms with the loss of a mother and son in the span of a single day.

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With inputs from Rakesh Pant