Father blames coach, lifeguards for 17-year-old son’s drowning in pool

The Vashi police have registered a case against five individuals, including the swimming coach and lifeguards

Navi Mumbai: A 17-year-old boy named Mayur Damale drowned in the swimming pool of the Father Agnel Sports Complex. The Vashi police have registered a case for negligence against five individuals, including the swimming coach and lifeguards. This development comes five days after the boy’s drowning incident. On April 13, Damale, who was studying in class 12, had been at the pool to practice swimming. This routine had been a part of his extracurricular activities since class 11 at Father Agnel School.

Father blames coach, lifeguards for 17-year-old son’s drowning in pool

The police have booked swimming coach Lakshmansingh Kalusingh Thakur and four lifeguards identified as Akash Kalu Devade, Surajkumar Ashokkumar Chaudhary, Omgovind Shyamkishor Yadav, and Sagar Raosaheb Shivsharan. All five have been booked for causing death by negligence. “We have served all five with notice as per the CrPC. These are the five whose negligence caused the death,” said senior police inspector Madhukar Bhatte from Vashi.

Meanwhile, Mayur’s father, Adinath Damale, stated that his son had yet to master the technique of swimming in deep water, hence the oversight from the coach led to the accident. On the fateful day, Mayur began his training after leaving college at 1:15 pm. “The footage from the CCTV has revealed that Mayur was still practicing in the pool even after other students had left. The other kids left the pool by 2:30 pm, but Mayur continued swimming for about 10 minutes more. However, according to the footage, he suddenly started struggling in the water and eventually drowned in the 7-ft area of the pool,” explained the father.

The father attributes the death to the sheer negligence of the coach and other staff. “Neither the coach nor the lifeguards were present at the pool. Only when other kids, after taking a shower, inquired about Mayur’s whereabouts did the lifeguard rush to have a look in the pool and bring him out,” he added.

At the hospital, the school authorities allegedly told the family that the boy had experienced breathing issues while swimming and was brought to the hospital for emergency treatment. However, only after the father insisted on watching the CCTV footage did he learn the truth. “I had demanded that the police book a case against the lifeguards, coach, and also the school administration, but the police conveniently avoided involving the administration,” the father said.

A case has been registered under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code for causing death by negligence.