13-year old drowns in pool

Bengaluru, April 10: A 13-year old boy drowned in a school swimming pool on Thursday afternoon in Chunchaghatta on Kothanur Main Road. A resident of Hosakerehalli and a student of Adams school in the same locality, the victim, Gaurav, was swimming with his friends at the pool of the Glitzy Public School.

The school administration allows public to use the pool by charging Rs 40 for 45 minutes.

The management had appointed two lifeguards-Mahendra and Kalegowda, whose offices were located in front of the pool. Unfortunately, the duo were not present at the poolside when the incident happened. Police say that there were no life jackets or other safety measures and that the Swimming coach Raju had also quit the job a fortnight ago and at that time there was no regular coach.

Gaurav went to the pool with his friends Bharath and Pradeep. They were accompanied by Bharat's father who runs a salon. The CCTV camera there shows that Gaurav was swimming comfortably for 45 minutes before drowning. The minimum depth of the pool is 4 meters and the maximum depth is at 6.5 meters. After swimming for 45 minutes, Gaurav went to the deeper side of the pool.

Later, he could be seen drowning as he was tired. Unfortunately, the nine other people who were swimming in the pool did not notice that he was drowning. After they came out of the pool, they found that Gaurav was missing. Following this, they spotted his body floating, which was then sent for post-mortem to KIMS. Later, it was taken to his native village of Juttenahalli in Chennarayapattana taluk of Hassan district.

The police have booked a case of negligence, leading to death under IPC Section 304 (A) against the school's founder Principal Usha Naresh. Police have assured that she and the two lifeguards will be arrested.

OneIndia News