15-year-old drowns off Mumbai’s Juhu, two friends rescued by passersby

A 15-year-old boy drowned off Juhu beach while his two friends aged 13 and 10 were saved by passersby on Monday afternoon.

According to the Santacruz police, the incident took place a kilometre from the main beach around 3.30pm. The victim, Kartik Devendra, and his friends Gajendra Devendra and Karpanna Devendra are residents of Nehru Nagar at Vile Parle (East).

“The three boys had gone to the beach to beat the heat and entered from the Birla lane. They got into the water and Kartik was pulled in by a wave,” said an officer.

One of the lifeguards, Suhail Mulani posted at the Juhu beach told HT, “The incident took place 1.5 kilometres from where we stood. We keep patrolling the beach on foot but when our lifeguards went there they were not in the water. A private lifeguard and others at the beach managed to pull out the two kids.”

The body of Kartik washed ashore on the beach near Ramada hotel after midnight. The Santacruz police have registered a case of accidental death. They confirmed that Kartik had died of drowning. The incident has again put the focus back on the need for deployment of more lifeguards and constant patrolling of the beaches.

Past incidents

April 17: An 11-year-old boy who had gone missing from his residence at Ghatkopar (East) on Monday evening was found dead at Juhu beach the following day. The police have not found any foul play in the death.

April 17: The body of Shahid Shaikh, 17, who had drowned on Monday, was found at Juhu beach on Tuesday at around 2.30 am next day. He had gone to the beach with his grandfather and two friends. He ventured into the sea at 2.30pm but got pulled in by strong currents. He was a resident of Juhu.

March 23: An outing at Juhu beach turned tragic for a group of friends from Santacruz (East). They plunged into the sea to beat the heat. One from the group, indetified as Arvind Pandey, drowned.

May 21: A 22-year-old Abrail Gulam Mohammad Shaikh was feared drowned off Juhu. He had gone for swimming with three friends.

May 18: A 26-year-old man from Bandra, who had gone to Juhu beach for a swim with his two friends, drowned. Irshad Qureshi was pulled in by strong currents.