A 36-year-old woman from Kerala, who had gone missing during a trek in Karnataka's Tadiandamol hills, was found safe after four days, officials said. The woman, identified as GS Sharanya, a native of Nadapuram in Kozhikode district, told rescuers that she had "lost her way somehow" but did not feel afraid during the ordeal.
Appearing calm, Sharanya walked out to the rescue teams with a smile and recounted how she managed to survive alone in the dense forest with limited resources.
She was part of a 10-member trekking group that had set out on April 2 and had reached the base of the peak around 7 am. However, she went missing later in the day, prompting authorities to launch a search operation after she failed to return.
A large-scale, round-the-clock search involving nine teams, including forest officials, Anti-Naxal Squad personnel, and local tribal communities, was initiated soon after she was reported missing.
KC Venugopal raised issue with the Karnataka govt
As the incident drew wider attention, Congress leader KC Venugopal raised the matter with the Karnataka government, urging immediate action to trace the missing trekker. His intervention, along with concern expressed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, led to a significant intensification of the search operations.
Search efforts were intensified on the directions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, with additional personnel and advanced equipment, including thermal drone cameras, deployed to trace her.
Sharanya, who was staying at a private homestay in Kakkabe village, had last contacted the property on the day she went missing, informing them that she had lost her way.
Karnataka Minister on missing woman
Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre confirmed that the woman had been found and was in good health. “GS Sharanaya, who had come from Kerala for trekking to Tadiyandamol peak in Kodagu district, has now been safely located in the missing person case, which is a matter of great relief,” he said.
Khandre described her as "brave and adventurous", noting that the lack of mobile connectivity in the forest had made it difficult to trace her location.
Authorities said she would be safely escorted back home to Kerala.
'I did not feel scared...'
Addressing reporters after being rescued, she said, "I had lost my way. I could not see anyone when I climbed down.I came to a left-side path but could not find anyone."
With just a 500 ml bottle of water and no mobile connectivity, she said she tried contacting a colleague, before her phone ran out of charge. "I walked till around 6.45 pm on the first day after losing the path. After that, I stayed in an open space near a stream as I could not proceed further because of the dense forest," she said.
In the days that followed, she kept moving in the hope of finding help. "In the days that followed, I kept walking expecting to meet someone," she added.
Despite being alone in a forest area believed to be frequented by elephants and amid intermittent heavy rain, the woman said fear never overtook her. "I did not feel scared. I don't know why," she said with a confident smile.
She was eventually spotted by a group of locals in a remote patch of the forest "where nobody usually goes", according to members of the rescue team.
