Bicholim: A 23-year-old man from Vithalapur, Sanquelim, who was observing a fast as a ‘dhond’ ahead of next week’s Lairai jatra at Shirgao, drowned in the Vathadev river on Thursday afternoon when he stepped into it for a holy dip.Police said Damodar Naik was an epilepsy patient and suspect he had a seizure and fell unconscious when he got into the river. A witness said other devotees were also bathing and Naik’s father was on the bank, when he drowned.Naik’s disappearance, police said, went unnoticed for a while, until he was found and rushed to the Bicholim community health centre, where he was declared brought dead.The devotees of goddess Lairai, who are called ‘dhonds’, usually begin fasting five days before the jatra, and then gather at Shirgao on the day of the festival.
