Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Two young brothers tragically drowned in a farm pond on the Shivna- Dhotra road near Sillod tehsil on Wednesday morning around 11 am.
The deceased have been identified as Gaurav Sable (12) and Gopal Sable (10), residents of Kinhi Phata, approximately three kilometres from Shivna village. The boys had accompanied their father Ramdas Sable to their farm in Dhotra shivar for sheep grazing. Around 10.45 am, the father stepped away to the Shivna weekly market to purchase some items, leaving the children to watch over the sheep. The children told him, “Go ahead, Baba, we will take care of the sheep.” While playing near a farm pond, the two boys climbed up to peek inside to check the water level, slipped, and fell in. As neither could swim, both drowned before help could arrive.
A nearby shepherd witnessed the incident and immediately alerted the father. People rushed to the spot, but by then it was too late. The bodies were recovered around noon. Last rites were performed at around 4 pm near their home in Kinhi Phata. The boys are survived by their parents and a five-year-old younger brother, Sai.
Ramdas, who carries on a traditional shepherding occupation, had dreams of educating his sons. Gaurav was studying in 7th standard at an English-medium school in Phulambri, while Gopal was in 5th standard in Sillod. Both had returned home just ten days earlier for summer vacation when the tragedy struck.
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“I should never have taken them there…”
Little Sai, who had played with his brothers just the day before, stood in stunned silence outside the house, too young to comprehend that they would never return. "I should never have taken them there," sobbed the grief-stricken father, while the mother's cries left everyone present heartbroken. The entire Shivna village mourned alongside the devastated Sable family.