ANN/THE STAR – The family of Vijayalakshmi, who fell into an eight-metre-deep sinkhole on Jalan Masjid India on August 23, conducted a final religious ceremony at the site before returning to India.
According to a report from Astro Awani, Vijayalakshmi’s husband, son, and sister visited the sinkhole site on Sunday to perform the Hindu rituals.
They lit oil lamps and rang bells as part of the ceremony. They were seen taking a clump of soil, which they placed in a plastic bag, presumably to take back to India.
It is understood that the family departed for India at 5pm on Sunday. The victim, originally from Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh, India, went missing after falling into the sinkhole.
Despite various search efforts, including the use of sniffer dogs and scuba units, the search and rescue (SAR) team was unable to locate her.
On Saturday, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), Dr Zaliha Mustafa, announced that the government had decided to terminate the SAR operation after nine days of extensive efforts.
She explained that the decision was made after considering safety issues involving the SAR team, the public and the surrounding area.
