Jammu, Sept 5: For Krishan Lal, a routine Saturday afternoon turned into a father’s worst nightmare when his daughter uttered a final “bye-bye” to him over the phone before jumping into the Chenab River in Doda district.
Officials said the district administration launched an extensive search operation.
A video purportedly shot by the young woman, Payal Devi, repeating the farewell before taking the extreme step at the Shiva Dal bridge near Prem Nagar around 2 pm, also went viral on social media shortly after the incident.
It was not immediately known what the exact reasons were driving her to take the step.
Her grieving father, Krishan Lal, said Payal had gone to a local mela (fair) earlier in the day and later called him to mention she felt unwell and was visiting a doctor.
He said after the doctor was reportedly unavailable, she was on her way back when she apparently got onto a motorcycle.
Her father said he later received a call from a person accompanying his daughter, who told him she had run towards the river.
“Nobody should come near me,” her father recalled Payal saying, adding that he subsequently spoke to her over the phone and repeatedly asked what had happened and whether someone had said or done anything to her.
According to Lal, Payal responded, “No, Papa. This is my own life. My heart tells me that I should go this way.”
She then told him, “Bye-bye, Papa,” before the call ended, he said.–(PTI)
