Schoolboy taking swimming lessons at camp dies

The tragic incident occurred around 12:30 pm at Woodrich Anbi Club, a resort at Anegatta about 40 km north of here. The boy was rushed to a private hospital in Devanahalli where he was declared brought dead.

It was the first day of the annual summer camp organised by the Devanahalli Sports and Cultural Association, an NGO that arranged the swimming coaching.

Son of Ramesh C alias Venkatesh, a private security guard, and Nagarathna who hail from Gollara Beedi, Devanahalli town, Arjun was a sportsman in the making.

While his parents, sister, and friends swear that Arjun did not know swimming, a worker at the resort claimed that he swam for half an hour before tragedy struck.

The boys were allowed to swim in the beginner’s section (three-foot deep) but Arjun moved to five-foot depth, according to the resort worker.

“We didn’t stop him looking at his strokes. All of a sudden, we heard his cries,” he said.
Ramesh, who rushed to the hospital in Devanahalli on receiving information, sought an explanation on why only his son was allowed to continue swimming when others had left the pool after a short session.

Dr D Nagesh, who performed a post-mortem at the Devanahalli Taluk Hospital there, said there were no injury marks on the body when it arrived at 3:30 pm. A report was expected on Friday.

Ramesh’s wife informed him about the incident at 1:45 pm when he was away at work. When he reached the private hospital, he had noticed blood in the boy’s nose, he said.
A total of 40 boys in Arjun’s age group were taken to the resort. Eleven people, including trainers and office-bearers of the association, accompanied them.

N Raghu, former President of the Association, said the camp was started in November 2003 to train school and college students from the town for district- and state-level sports competitions. It charged Rs 1,500 per child for the entire camp. 

The Vishwanathapura police have booked a case of causing death by negligence under Section 304 A of the IPC against the association based on a complaint filed by Ramesh.