BENGALURU: As COVID-19 pandemic is demanding a shift into virtual classes, a woman in Karnataka's Gadag district had mortgaged her mangalsutra to buy a TV set for her children who studies in government school so that they could attend on-air classes.

Students of government schools in view of the COVID-19 pandemic are being taught through DD Chandana channel.

The woman Kasthuri and her husband are both daily wage labourers. While one of her children study in Class seven, the other is in standard eight.

"Their school teacher kept telling us that we have to somehow make the arrangement, otherwise children will lose out. I asked for a loan from others, but nobody gave us the money. Due to lockdown, there was no work or earnings too," Kasthuri was quoted saying by a portal.

This forced her to pledge the ornament, considered auspicious for married Hindu women for Rs 20,000 and bought a television set worth Rs 14,000.

However, her daughter is hopeful that her mother would get her mangalsutra back.

"I felt sad that she had to pledge it but it was an emergency. If we study now, in future we can get a better one," said Surekha, Kasthuri's daughter, as quoted by the portal.

District in-charge minister BC Patil, who came to know about the incident through media reports said assured that he would get her mangalsutra back in a day.

(Inputs from News18 Kannada)