Mysore, Apr 12: In a heart-rending incident, four students of city met their watery grave in KRS backwaters yesterday afternoon.
Bhavya (18), daughter of Nagendra, a resident of Nimisham-banagar near Kuvempunagar; Chethan (18), son of Prabhakar, a resident of Kuvempunagar third stage; Akshatha (19), daughter of Shivashankar, a resident of Ramakrishnanagar and Surabhi (19), daughter of S. Nagaraju, a resident of KR Mohalla’s Basaveshwara Road are the unfortunate victims.
The bodies of all the four students were handed over to their family members today after postmortem.
The four, who were first year B.Sc students of Yuvaraja's college, had come to Balamuri along with other students on a picnic yesterday, it is learnt.
After playing in Balamuri water for some time, they left for KRS at 1 pm. As the students waded in the backwaters near the newly-built Venugopala-swamy temple, four of them drowned at about 2.45 pm, according to eye witnesses.
Akshatha and Bhavya, who saw Surabhi drowning in the water, went to her rescue and in the process, got themselves drowned. Chethan, who was nearby, also made an attempt to pull them up, but he too drowned, according to Police. The other students, who were playing nearby in KRS deep waters, went into a state of shock and fled from the spot while the two lady lecturers, who accompanied them stayed back, it is learnt.
On learning about the incident, KRS PSI H.B. Venkateshaiah and staff rushed to the spot. Local divers were pressed into service and Surabhi’s body was the first to be traced. The bodies of Akshatha and Chethan were fished out later at 5 pm within a span of 15 minutes while the body of Bhavya was fished out only at 4 am this morning.
While the bodies of Surabhi, Chethan and Akshatha were brought to the MCC&RI mortuary in an ambulance at 8.10 pm last night, the body of Bhavya, traced early this morning, was sent to JSS Medical College for post-mortem.
Srirangapatna Deputy SP Dinesh and Circle Inspector Prabhakar Rao Shinde also visited the spot. KRS Police have registered a case in this regard and are investigating.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the mortuary premises when the bodies of Surabhi, Akshatha and Chethan were brought in an ambulance, where friends and relatives had gathered in large numbers. There was a huge crowd at the KRS also. It is learnt that 18 students of Yuvaraja’s College had left in a vehicle to Balamuri to celebrate one of their lecturer's birthday and later in the afternoon went to KRS backwaters.
Mysore University Vice-Chancellor Prof. V.G. Talwar, Registrars Prof. E.T. Puttaiah and B. Ramu, PE Director Dr. C. Krishna, Students Welfare Dean Prof. Srinivas and other officers visi-ed the mortuary, sought details from the Police and consoled the grieving family members.