Two boys drown after straying into adults' section of swimming pool

Two boys drowned in a swimming pool in southern Bengaluru on Monday after straying into the adults' section.

Mohan and Jayanth, both aged 13 and residents of Jaraganahalli, had gone to MNC Swimming Academy on Uttarahalli Main Road in JP Nagar 7th Phase.

Swimming coach Moin collected Rs 100 from them and allowed them to swim in the three-foot-deep section of the pool. But instead of staying near the pool and attending to the boys, Moin sat near the coach's room.

The boys, beginners in swimming, strayed into the six-foot-deep pool because there was no clear partition between the three-foot-deep pool and the six-foot-deep section, which is only for adults. They drowned around 1.30 pm.

The coach saw the boys lying unconscious in the six-foot-deep pool. He brought them out of the water, but they were dead by then.

Konanakunte police rushed to the spot and found out that the coach hadn't noted the boys' details. It took the police four hours to ascertain the boys' identities because they didn't carry any ID proof. Police had to go from door to door in the surrounding areas with the boys' pictures and enquire with residents.

Police booked Moin and the owners of the pool, identified as Naresh and Shekhar, for causing death by negligence. Moin has been arrested.

No life jackets

Police said that the coach neither gave the boys life jackets nor attended to them when they were in the pool. "The boys died because of the negligence of the coach. There is a slope between the three-foot-deep section and the six-foot-deep section. The boys swam to the slope and slipped into the six-foot-deep section," a police officer said.

Had skipped class

Krishnakant P, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said the boys went to school in the morning but later skipped classes to go swimming. Their parents were not aware of their swimming plans.

The boys were class 7 students at a government school. Mohan was the son of Panduranga and Jayanth was the son of Rangappa. Both are labourers. Panduranga has filed a complaint against Moin and Shekar.

The bodies will be handed over to the families after a post-mortem on Tuesday, police said.