G.S. Sharanya, an IT professional from Kerala, was finally found by a coordinated search and rescue operation after she had gone missing during a trek in the forests of Madikeri in Coorg.
The special search team, comprising police teams and officers from the Karnataka Forest Department, found her at about 5 PM, deep within the forest, bringing relief to her family and the authorities after a three-day disappearance.
After coming out of the forest, she told reporters that she had ended up at the edge of a cliff when she had somehow got separated from the group.
She also reiterated that she was still healthy, despite surviving her ordeal of three days and three nights by drinking water from a stream nearby, a Manorama News report said.
The report added that the search team had mentioned that they had heard the sounds she would make at regular intervals in the forest, which is how they found and rescued her.
How did Sharanya get lost in the forest?
The 36-year-old had initially arrived at Tadiandamol—one of the highest mountains in Madikeri—after making an online application to travel solo on April 1.
However, the Karnataka Forest Department did not give her permission to trek alone, as they said that wild elephants roamed many parts in the area.
She then booked a room at a homestay in Yavakapadi, close to the trekking start point, after which she set out for the trek on Thursday morning, along with a 10-member group of strangers that had come for the trek.
However, a while after the trek began, she trailed behind and eventually got separated from the 10-member trekking group, thus beginning her three-day ordeal in the forests of Madikeri.
