A life cut short: How 26-year-old scientist, who dared to dream beyond life in her village, was swept away in Telangana floods

Aswini, who had a PhD in genetics and plant breeding, was working as a scientist in the School of Crop Resistance System Research at ICAR – National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Baronda, in Chhattisgarh. She won the Young Scientist Award at an agriculture conference held at Raipur in April.

She did her BSc (Agriculture) from Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University at Aswaraopet, her MSc from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and PhD from the university’s Rajendra Nagar campus in Hyderabad.

In February 2021, Aswini, who was a first-year PhD student at the time, received an award for her posters on “Characterisation of RIL population and validation of molecular markers linked to flowering time genes in the Chickpea”. Family members said she was a topper throughout her academic journey, and authored or co-authored dozens of research papers.

“She joined as a scientist two years ago. She had a brilliant career ahead of her, but her life was tragically cut short,” Hari said. Dr Aswini’s family hails from Gangaram Thanda of Singareni Mandal in Khammam district. As bodies of the father-daughter duo were handed over to family by authorities after the post-mortem on Tuesday, a pall of gloom descended on the village and hundreds of people from nearby areas joined the family for the final rites.

Last week, Aswini made a quick trip home to attend the engagement ceremony of her brother Ashok Kumar. She was supposed to fly back to Raipur on Sunday and join duty on Monday.

Early morning on Sunday, her father Motilal decided to drop her at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, amidst a heavy downpour. The duo had reached Maripeda in neighbouring Mahabubabad district, and ventured on to the Akeru Vagu bridge, which was already overflowing.

Aswini last made a panic stricken call to her brother Ashok, saying that the car was being swept away and that there was neck deep water in it. “When Ashok called back a few moments later, the mobile phones of both were not reachable,” Hari said. Officials at Maripeda police station, who had rushed to rescue them, said that they probably misjudged the power of the currents and water flowing over the bridge. “We found Aswini’s body in a field nearby after a few hours, while Motilal’s body was found further downstream on Monday,” an official said.