Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Aug 5: Shivaprasad (22), only son of G Yoganand from B T M Layout, Bangalore, who drowned at Kaup beach after overlooking warnings by locals and entering the sea on Sunday August 3 evening, remains untraced.
He was part of a group of friends who had come here from Bangalore to spend time together and enjoy.
Shivaprasad, after visiting different places over a period of two days, arrived in the district with his friends, Shivaraj Aras, Manoj Kumar and Lohit Kumar. The trio was accompanied by Chetan, a student of Alva's College, Moodbidri. The youngsters entered the turbulent sea,
although several locals had warned them against doing so. Shivaprasad, who was swept away by a wave, tried returning to the shore with lot of efforts, but was washed away again by a huge wave. Although he frantically signaled for help, no one mustered courage to fight the
waves and save him.
Shivaprasad, who belonged to a poor family, was a software engineering student of a renowned Bangalore-based college. He was brilliant in studies and during holidays, served at a software company. After his mother died of brain tumour about eight years ago, he was looked after his rickshaw driver father and grandfather. The youngster's father, uncle and several friends from Bangalore, who reached here on Monday August 4, waited all day by the seashore for him. Although some said they had sighted his body in the sea, no one could venture into the sea to find the body, since the sea remained rough.
The locals rue the fact that the tourism department has not met their long time demand for posting life guards at Kaup beach even though it accounts for several deaths every year. They also are angry at the fact that the government failed to summon services of the Coast Guard, which has the infrastructure to operate in tough conditions.