Mavelikkara: An eight-year-old girl in an act of bravery saved her two-year-old brother, who had fallen into a well on Tuesday at 5 pm. Diya Fathima, whose family stays on rent at Mankamkuzhy saved her younger brother Ivan (Akku).
Their mother Shajila was washing dishes in the yard of the house, while Diya and her younger sister Duniya were taking the clothes from the clothesline. With nobody watching over him, little Ivan stepped on the pump next to the well and climbed onto the iron grill covering the well. The rusted central portion of the iron cover broke and the boy fell into the over 20-ft-deep well.
Diya, who rushed to the well on hearing the sound, saw her younger brother struggling to stay afloat in the well. Without wasting a minute, she climbed down into the well through a PVC pipe and picked up Ivan and held him close to her. She also held on to the pipe with her other hand.
Upon hearing Shajila wailing, neighbours Akhil Chandran, Binoy and migrant worker Munna rushed to the house and took both the children out of the well.
Ivan, who suffered a minor injury to his head, is under observation at the paediatric intensive care unit of the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital. The doctors have said that there is no cause for concern. Diya was not injured in the incident. Ivan's father Sanal, an Alappuzha native, was at his workplace in Erumely. Diya is a class 3 student at Irattapallikoodam Government School at Vettiyar.
