Patna: Two young girls feared drowned while bathing with their family members in the Ganga river during wedding rituals in Chiraiya village, under Bakhtiyarpur police station area in Patna district on Saturday morning.The incident took place around 11am when four cousins entered the deep waters of the river near Ganga Sthan to bathe. While two were rescued by local villagers, the other two — Sonam Kumari, 14, resident of Rustampur village, Raghopur, Vaishali district, and Madhuri Kumari, 12, resident of Chiraiya village — remained missing. A search operation by local divers and SDRF was launched.SHO Devanand Sharma said the girls went to the riverbank with their families as part of pre-wedding ceremonies ahead of the marriage of Sanjan Kumar, son of Hardev Rai, a resident of Chiraiya village. “The wedding is scheduled for April 28. Sonam, who came to her maternal uncle Hardev’s house to attend the wedding, hails from Raghopur in Vaishali district. Madhuri Kumari, Hardev’s niece, also belonged to the same area,” he said.He added, “SDRF team along with local divers engaged in search operation in the river at the spot where the girls went missing, but they remain traceless after six hours of search. The operation will continue on Sunday morning.”The house, which was buzzing with wedding celebrations and rituals, suddenly plunged into mourning after the incident. Preparations for another wedding procession from the house of Ravindra Rai, a relative of Hardev Rai, were also underway but have now been overshadowed by grief.
