'Had faith she would come back': Relief for family as Kerala techie Sharanya was traced

KOZHIKODE: The family of G S Sharanya, 36, an IT professional from Perode in Nadapuram, breathed a sigh of relief after she was traced on Sunday evening following an intensive search in the Madikeri forests in Coorg. Sharanya, who works in Kochi, had gone missing on the afternoon of April 2 while trekking at the Tadiandamol peak.

Her mother Shailaja broke down in tears when she received a call from her brother Haridasan in Madikeri informing her that search teams had located Sharanya. "I always believed nothing would happen to her. She would reassure me wherever she went she would return safely. She is a very confident person. Though I usually worry even over small matters, I had faith that she would come back," she said.

Scenes of anxiety at Sharanya's house soon turned into celebration as relatives, neighbours and political leaders gathered and watched visuals of her smiling on television.

Sharanya told reporters that she lost her way during the trek and survived by drinking water from a stream.

"I lost my way and when I saw people on the hilltop, I tried to reach them by taking a route uphill, but soon they disappeared from view. I then moved downhill but lost network connectivity and ended up in a dense forest. I kept walking till around 6.45pm, and my phone also got switched off," she said.

She said she reached a rocky stream area and spent the night there, as she had pain in her leg, avoided walking much on the first day. On the second day, she stayed in the area which had good visibility hoping she would be spotted if anyone conduct search using drones.

Sharanya said that though she initially planned to climb to a higher point on the third day, rain disrupted her plans. She said she waited till noon on Sunday for her clothes to dry.

Sharanya added that she kept screaming intermittently in the hope that someone would hear her. It was the residents, part of the search team, who eventually heard her sounds and traced her.

"I had only a 500ml bottle of water. Later, I relied on water from a nearby stream," she said.