Two boys, both aged 13 years, drowned in a private swimming pool in J.P. Nagar 7th phase on Monday afternoon.
The children have been identified as Mohan and Jayanth, residents of Jaraganahalli, studying in class 7 at a nearby government school. They had skipped school on Monday and decided to go swimming instead.
The duo reached the pool around 3 p.m. and paid ₹100 to get inside. The coach, identified as Moin, allowed them in but was not around when the boys ventured into the pool.
They got into one end of the pool that is only three feet deep but slowly inched towards the deeper end without realizing the depth. Since they did not know swimming, both drowned, the police said.
The incident came to light when Moin returned to the pool and found their bodies floating. He alerted the owner of the building, identified as Shekhar, who in turn informed the police.
The Konanakunte police reached the spot and had a tough time ascertaining the identity of the two boys. After four hours of door-to-door search, the police managed to trace the family members. Mohan’s father, Panduranga, a daily wage labourer, filed a complaint against the pool management.
The police arrested the coach and the owner of the building, charging them with causing death due to negligence, poor maintenance, and not having any safety precautions. Neither the boys were given any instructions while entering the premises nor the instructor was around when the incident occurred, a senior police officer said.
Published - January 30, 2023 09:56 pm IST
