Mother, son receive Biju Patnaik Bravery Award for river rescue

KENDRAPARA: Jayanti Mallick (42) and her son Rudra Prasad (13) of Nimpur village in Pattamundai block were conferred the Biju Patnaik Bravery Award-2023 on Thursday for saving a man from Uttar Pradesh from drowning in Brahmani river on March 2 this year.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi presented the mother-son duo the coveted award along with cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each and silver plaques at a function in Bhubaneswar .

The duo risked their lives to save Badal Kumar (26), a worker from Uttar Pradesh from drowning in the river near the ghat at Nimapur village. Both Jayanti and Rudra Prasad were bathing in the river when three workers were swept away by a heavy current. While both of them swam towards the workers, they managed to rescue Badal using Jayanti’s saree while the two others were swept away in the current.

Talking to The New Indian Express, Jayanti and her son said they were delighted at receiving the award. “But our only regret is that we could not save the lives of the other two persons”, they said.