Kulamavu (Idukki): A young man who came along with a minor girl to tourist spot Nadukani Pavilion in Kerala's Idukki district was found hanging from a tree.
He apparently killed himself after the girl fell into a gorge during a minor scuffle between them. She was rescued from 250-foot-deep gorge after 26 hours.
The dead man has been identified as Alex, 23, of Melukavu in Kottayam district.
The police claimed Alex and the girl were known to each other and both had come on a bike to Nadukani Pavilion on Thursday. She fell off from a rock near the view point located slightly farther from the Pavilion.
The fateful moments
Explaining the sequence of events the police said: the youth and the girl were standing on a rock. During the course of their conversation a heated argument broke out between the couple. In a fit of rage the youth pushed the girl into the gorge. She lost consciousness after falling into the valley below.
A panic-stricken Alex climbed down and saw the girl lying unconscious. He thought she might have died due to the injuries and shock.
Unable to bear the loss he rushed to a nearby tree and hung himself.
The chance finds and miraculous rescue
On Thursday morning the relatives of the girl and the youth had given separate missing complaints at the Kanjar and Melukavu police stations. The same morning the staff of a nearby resort had seen the bike on the roadside with helmet and bag on it.
The information was passed on to the police which conducted a search operation in the area. During the search the cops found the injured girl lying unconscious in the gorge. Alex was also found dead nearby.
The Kerala Fire and Rescue Services station at Moolamattom was alerted.
A rescue personnel tied a stretcher to a rope ladder and it was released into the gorge. Soon the girl was brought up to and rushed to hospital.
She has sustained a fracture on the leg and in the pelvic bone, doctors reported.
Alex's body has been sent to the mortuary at the Thodupuzha District Hospital. The youth leaves behind his father Joseph alias Shibu, mother Eliamma and sister Lijimol Joseph.
Meanwhile, Lijimol has filed a complaint with the police alleging that her brother could have been murdered. She said the girl's father had once threatened her brother with dire consequences.
