Medininagar (Palamu): Six people, including four minors, drowned in two separate incidents on Wednesday during ceremonial immersions at the tribal festival Karam in Jharkhand’s Palamu district, police said.
Separate immersions at two hamlets
Five deaths occurred in Bokaya village while one person drowned in Nani Jharia hamlet, the district police said. The Karam festival, observed by tribal communities and one of the region's major religious events, culminates with the immersion of a branch of the Karam tree that was worshipped during the festivities.
Palamu Superintendent of Police Kapil Choudhary said an eight-year-old boy drifted into the deeper reaches of the Koel river during the immersion ceremony in Bokaya. Four people jumped into the river in a bid to rescue him; all of them drowned, the SP added. Their bodies have been recovered and sent for post-mortem.
“The news of people drowning in the river during the ‘Karam dali visarjan’ in Palamu is extremely heartbreaking and distressing. My deepest condolences go out to the families of all the deceased who lost their lives in this painful incident,” Chief Minister Hemant Soren posted on X.
The deceased from Bokaya were identified as Amit Kumar Thakur (22), Nitish Kumar Singh (18), Vishal Paswan (16), Raja Singh (12) and Hemant Kumar Singh (8), the police statement said. In Nani Jharia, the victim was 16-year-old Simpi Kumari, who slipped and fell into a pond during the immersion; locals helped retrieve the body and it was taken to Medinirai Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem.
Official response and next steps
The SP said police teams and local residents recovered the bodies and formal medico-legal procedures have been initiated. Further details on any inquiry into the circumstances of the drownings were not immediately available.
Chief Minister Soren also wrote that he prayed to Marang Buru — the tribal deity — for peace for the departed souls and for strength for the bereaved families. No official compensation or relief announcement had been made by state authorities at the time of reporting.
Context and public-safety concerns
Karam is one of the largest tribal festivals in the state after Sarhul and involves communal rites that include the immersion of a worshipped tree branch. Large gatherings and rituals near rivers and ponds are common during the festival, raising recurrent concerns about water safety in rural areas.
- Victims recovered: Six bodies — five from Bokaya, one from Nani Jharia.
- Age profile: Four of the deceased were minors (ages 8, 12, 16, 16), two were young adults (18, 22).
- Medical formalities: Bodies sent for post-mortem at Medinirai Medical College and Hospital.
| Location | Number of fatalities | Notable details |
|---|---|---|
| Bokaya village | 5 | Incident triggered after an eight-year-old drifted into Koel river; four rescuers also drowned |
| Nani Jharia hamlet | 1 | 16-year-old slipped into a pond during immersion; body recovered by locals |
Local authorities in Palamu have typically coordinated with village-level leaders for crowd management during festivals, but rural immersion sites often lack lifeguards, ropes or other basic safety equipment. The absence of formal rescue arrangements can increase the risk of multiple casualties when a single person gets into trouble in the water.
What families and communities face now
Families of the deceased are set to await the completion of post-mortems and police formalities before final rites. The scale of the loss — particularly of children and adolescents — has drawn widespread condolences from state leaders and local communities, and may prompt calls for improved safety measures at immersion sites in future festivals.
Palamu district officials and police did not immediately announce any specific safety audit or compensation; any such decisions will be revealed after further consultations, the police said.
Investigations into the precise chain of events that led to the drownings are ongoing. The police statement emphasised recovery of bodies and the initiation of medico-legal processes, while local leaders have been asked to cooperate with authorities so families can complete last rites promptly.
