Missing 83-year-old survives in forest for five days, rescued

MANGALURU: An 83-year-old man survived in the forest near Ainguda in Shibaje village of Belthangady taluk for five days without food and water. Vasu Ranya, who was a coolie, had left home with a sickle to collect firewood from the hillock behind his house on May 21. However, he lost his way and was roaming inside the forest searching for a way out. Meanwhile, family members, neighbors, and members of the Shourya Disaster Management Team of the Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) began a search in the forest when Ranya did not return by the afternoon.

Sourya team member Avinash Bhide told TOI that the volunteers of the team and villagers continued their search for Ranya for five days continuously. The elderly man had left home around 10 am on May 21, and by 3 pm, we began searching for him. Since he is very old, we had suspicions that he might have lost his way. "For five days, we could not find him in the forest," he said.

In fact, villagers had heard the voice of someone crying for help in the evening on Saturday. Following this, Shourya volunteers and others split into two teams to continue the search in that direction, he said.

“The members of the Shourya team took it as a challenge, covered all areas, and finally found Ranya standing near a tree inside Bhandihole forest, about 2.5 km away from his house. We also found a bed of leaves beneath the tree. It is suspected that he might have been sleeping on it. There were no fruits or any other food for him to eat. Moreover, the area did not have water too. Hence, we suspect that he survived for five days without food and water. In fact, he does not remember his five days of stay in the forest,” Bhide said.

Ranya, who was found tired, has been taken to the primary health center in Kokkada and given treatment, he said, adding that the doctor sent him back home as there were no health issues other than weakness.

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