Kozhikode: A 73-year-old woman, who went missing from home at midnight, was found dead in a temple pond a kilometre away from her house at Karuvissery.
Padmini K Nair went missing from her home situated near Karuvissery Co-Operative Bank. While her family and the police were searching for her, the body was found in the pond of Karuvissery Sri Vishnu temple at 5.30 pm.
A temple staffer alerted the authorities after noting a woman's body floating in the pond. Vellimadukunnu Fire and Rescue team retrieved the body, which was sent to the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital for autopsy. It's believed that Padmini was under treatment for depression.
She and her husband Gangadaran Nair were staying with their children in Bengaluru and returned to Kozhikode a couple of days back. Family members say she was at home till 11.30 pm, but they noticed her missing by 1 am.
CCTV footage from the temple showed Padmini coming to the temple gate and walking along the pathway to the pond. But it's not clear how she ended up in the water, said the temple committee vice-president Nityanandan. "The pond is used for swimming coaching. But it's open only from early morning till 9.30 am. After that, if someone wants to go inside, they must have to climb the wall," he told Onmanorama.
Once they failed to find Padmini, her family alerted the police and sought the public's help through social media. Meanwhile, the city police control room said they did not find her in the CCTV footage collected from the city limit. Her body was found 17 hours after the search began.
Padmini is survived by her husband and two children.
