India, Nov. 10 -- A woman and four girls drowned in a lake in this temple town on Monday evening, police said, after heavy rain in the district raised the water level.

The dead include three sisters aged between 13 and 16, the 24-year-old caretaker of a government-run children's home for girls where they lived, and another 16-year-old girl from the same home. The victims were identified as sisters Vijayalakshmi (15), Alli (14) and Bhoomika (13), their friend Valliammal (16), and hostel nurse Thenmozhi (24).

Police said the three sisters, residents of the home, had gone to their family's village nearby to celebrate Deepavali and returned to Tiruvannamalai on Monday afternoon. As the district administration had declared a holiday, they we...