A young girl drowned in a village pond while herding goats near Sivaganga here on Thursday.
R. Abhinaya, 12, hailed from Melapoongudi near Madagupatti in Sivaganga district. She was a Class VII student at the nearby Government Middle School.
She had gone out to herd goats with her mother, Seruvammal..
After some time, Seruvammal asked the girl to continue tending to the goats and returned home. In the evening, the goats returned alone, but Abhinaya was missing. Following this, Seruvammal lodged a complaint with the Madagupatti police.
Subsequently, relatives joined the police in search for Abhinaya. On Friday morning, she was found dead in a village pond in the area.
The police recovered the body and sent it to the Sivaganga Government Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination.