An 11-year-old boy, Uttam Tanti, saved life of a woman and her three-year-old daughter by jumping into the Dighalijan river and pulling them out in Assam’s Sonitpur district on Sunday.

The heroic act of this minor saved two lives, but Anjali’s 18-month-old girl could not be saved.

The act drew the attention of Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who tweeted on Wednesday, “No words would be enough for the courageous act done by 11-year-old Uttam Tanti of Missamari, Sonitpur. He saved the life of a woman and her child who fell into a river. Hats off to his bravery!”

Anjali, 35, was crossing the river with her two daughters — Riya and Dipta— to visit her in-laws in the village on the other side of the river.

“The mother lost her balance as the current was very strong because of heavy rainfall the previous night,” a source told The Telegraph, adding that she fell into the river along with the girls.

Uttam was on the river bank to collect water.

“The boy jumped into the river and pulled out the mother first and rescued Riya in the second attempt,” the source added.

Unfortunately, he could not save Dipta and she drowned. Both Anjali and Uttam are from Dhankhana village.

According to police, they got information around 10.50am about an 18-month-old child drowning in the Dighalijan. “The police swung into action along and when they arrived with an SDRF team from Lalmati in Tezpur, they came to know about this heroic act by an 11-year-old boy.”

A police source said the body of the child was recovered on Monday around 8km from the place of incident.

Tezpur deputy commissioner Narsing Pawar said, “The district administration will felicitate the boy on Thursday.”

Uttam is a Class V student of Balisuti Buniyadi Vidyalaya and comes from an underprivileged background. His father, Nipen Tanti, is a daily wage earner.

Sonitpur superintendent of police Sanjit Krishna said they are proud of Uttam and will soon organise a felicitation ceremony to recognise his courageous act.

“We shall reward him and also write to higher authority recommending an award and reward for Uttam.”

Circle officer of Thelamara, Lakshya Jyoti Das, went to meet the child and felicitated him at his house on Tuesday.

“Though there is a bridge on the river, she was trying to negotiate a shortcut like most villagers do,” he added.