UP Class 10 students hailed as heroes for saving drowning woman

Krishna and Saddam went into the tunnel and saved the woman from drowning.For a few moments, the people gathered near a bridge in Uttar Pradesh’s Maharajganj district could only watch as a woman was swept away by the strong current of a canal. Then two Class 10 students stepped into the water.Krishna Gupta and Saddam Hussain, both 16, were near the Saat-Paanch bridge in the Nichlaul area when they saw the woman struggling in the Deoria Branch Canal of the Narayani river. The teenagers, who study at Masih Sevashram Inter College, entered the fast-flowing canal and swam towards her. The incident took place on Friday.According to The Logical Indian report, the woman, believed to be in her 30s, had been at the bridge with family members when an argument broke out. She allegedly threw her mobile phone onto the road before running towards the canal and jumping in. The strong current quickly carried her away from the bridge.People who had gathered at the spot did not initially enter the canal because of the force of the water. Krishna and Saddam, however, went in and managed to reach the woman.The two students kept her afloat and guided her towards the bank. Once they got closer to the shore, other people joined the effort and helped pull the woman out of the water. Police had also been alerted, but the teenagers reached the woman before the team arrived.The circumstances surrounding the woman’s decision to enter the canal are being looked into by authorities. Some local reports have linked the incident to a family dispute, while details about the circumstances have not been consistently reported.Krishna, from Sekhui, and Saddam, from Kohadwal, are both students of Class 10. Their decision to enter the canal came in the middle of what had otherwise been an ordinary day near the bridge.The police also formally recognised the teenagers. Maharajganj Superintendent of Police Shakti Mohan Awasthi presented them with certificates of appreciation for their actions. District Magistrate Gaurav Singh Sogarwal later felicitated the students with certificates and mementoes and directed officials to initiate steps to send their names for the National Bravery Award, according to The Logical Indian.Their school principal, Father Praveen Pulinthanathan, announced that the students would be felicitated for the rescue. The school has also recognised their actions in front of other students.The rescue has since become the focus of attention not because the students were trained rescuers or officials, but because they happened to be at the spot when someone was in trouble and acted before the police reached there.At the same time, the incident highlights the risks involved in entering fast-moving water. The canal’s strong current had initially kept others from attempting the rescue, making the students’ decision particularly dangerous.For Krishna and Saddam, however, the immediate concern was the person struggling in the water. Within minutes, two school students had gone from watching the commotion from the bridge to helping bring the woman back to shore.