17-Year-Old Bengaluru College Student Drowns During College Trip

The boy, Vishwas, is seen drowning in a selfie which his friends clicked. However, no one noticed until it was late.

No one had noticed Vishwas was drowning until it was too late.

(Photo: ANI)

In an unfortunate accident, a 17-year-old boy from Bengaluru drowned in a pond at Ramagundlu near Kanakapura, while on a college trip.

The boy, Vishwas, is seen drowning in a selfie which his friends clicked. However, no one noticed that Vishwas was missing until it was too late.

Early on Sunday morning, 25 students from Bengaluru’s National College had gone for a trip to Ramagundlu, near Kanakapura. The students were part of National Cadet Corps (NCC) and had gone to the Ramagundlu temple to carry out a cleanliness drive.

According to the Thalaghattapura Police, the boys had gone along with one of their professors – Ramesh.

After the cleanliness drive, the students went into the 10-ft-deep <i>kalyani</i> (a pool-like structure present in temples) for a swim. At around 11.15 am, all the students were clicking a selfie while they were inside the <i>kalyani</i>. In one of the pictures, we can see Vishwas’ head. This was at the time he drowned. But the students did not notice that he was missing.

Ranappa, Thakaghattapura Police Inspector

At 3 pm, the students got out of the kalyani and decided to head back to Bengaluru. When they did a head count, they found that Vishwas was missing.

The students tried contacting Vishwas but he did not pick up the call. They assumed that he had gone home.

“The professor who had taken the boys for the trip had gone back to Bengaluru while the students were still in the kalyani. The boy’s parents got worried when Vishwas did not come home and called his friends. They showed Vishwas’ parents the pictures and that was when they noticed that he had drowned,” the Inspector added.

Vishwas’ parents immediately informed the police who began a search operation to find his body. They fished out the body late on Sunday night.

A case of accidental death was filed at the Thalaghattapura Police Station. A memorial service was held at National College on Monday. Vishwas’ parents submitted a letter to the institute accusing Professor Ramesh of negligence and have sought action against him.

(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission)