A 17-year-old Bengaluru boy drowned in a temple tank in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district while his friends posed for a selfie, unaware that Vishwas G was struggling to stay afloat, police said on Tuesday.
The Class 12 student of the National College in Jayanagar in south Bengaluru is the latest victim of the craze for self-portraits in India, which accounts for half of the world’s selfie deaths.
Vishwas was part of a group of NCC cadets who had gone for an outing on Sunday to Kanakapura in Ramanagara district, about 40km from Bengaluru.
They decided to take a dip in a temple tank near Ravagondlu Betta and left the tank after the picnic. The group realised much later that Vishwas was missing, a college teacher told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.
“Some students then went through the photos and saw one that had captured the incident,” said the teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing reprisal from the administration.
The selfie shows Vishwas drowning – only his hair are visible on the surface of the tank -- as rest of the group smiles for the picture. “However, by the time they reached the spot it had already been an hour and his body was nowhere to be found,” the teacher said.
The college staff then informed police who pulled out the body, a police official said.
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Repeated calls to the college remained unanswered.
Around 25 students were part of the NCC camp and two college staff accompanied them, police said.
One of the students informed Vishwas father, Govindappa, an autorickshaw driver, who filed a police complaint, Ramanagaram superintendent of police Ramesh B said. “We have filed a case of unnatural death based on the complaint,” he said.
It appeared to be an unfortunate incident for which couldn’t be blamed on a student, police said. “Moreover, the complaint lodged with us does not mention any negligence on the part of those present,” Ramesh said.
Slefie deaths in India, one of the world’s fastest growing smart phone markets, has forced authorities in several states to demarcate no-selfie zones but people continue to risk their lives for that one memorable picture