Noida: A police constable in Uttar Pradesh’s Greater Noida on Thursday jumped into a brimming canal and saved a drowning woman, who had tried to commit suicide over fights with her husband, officials said.
Constable Irfan Ali jumped into Khareli canal and swam about 100 metres to save the 30-year-old woman, a labourer, who had fallen unconscious, they said.
Impressed by the constable’s feat, Police Commissioner Alok Singh lauded Ali’s selfless service and announced a monetary reward for him for saving a citizen’s life.
Congratulations braveheart for putting citizen before self. He is being immediately rewarded with Rs 20,000 and also recommended for a suitable commendation, Singh tweeted.
Constable Ali along with other policemen attached with the Dankaur Police Station were deployed near the Khareli canal to keep a check on movement of people and vehicles amid ongoing agitation of farmers in the region, a police official said.
Around 1.30 pm, the woman, who lives in Kasna area, jumped into the canal. Some local boys saw her drowning and alerted the policemen who were deployed nearby. Ali immediately jumped into the canal, which is around 18-20 feet deep and in full flow now, Dankaur SHO Anil Kumar Pandey told PTI.
The constable swam towards the woman and somehow managed to push her out of the canal. Once on the bank of the canal, he requested some women who were passing by the area to help revive the woman who had fallen unconscious after swallowing water, Pandey said.
He said the woman regained consciousness after sometime and then identified herself as a resident of Kasna.
She told the police that she and her husband work as labourers.
The woman said she tried to end her life by jumping into the canal because she was upset with her husband who is an alcoholic and also beats her, Pandey said.
Later, the woman’s family members, including her brother and father, who live in Dibai in adjoining Bulandshahr district, were contacted and she was handed over to them, the SHO added.