Man tries to save cousin who fell in well, both die

“Aman and Adnan were sitting on the edge of the well. They were waiting for their other cousins and relatives to take their goats for sacrifice to the local butcher house,” an officer from Tulinj police station said

Mumbai: The celebrations of Bakri Eid in Nalasopara East turned tragic for a family on Thursday when two cousins drowned in a well while returning from a mosque after offering namaaz. One of them slipped in and drowned, police officials said, adding that the other also died in an attempt to save his cousin.

An accidental death report (ADR) has been registered in the matter and further investigations are underway. “Based on the statements of the eyewitnesses and locals it seems to be an unfortunate accident but we are investigating the case and have also called for the CCTV camera recordings of the neighbourhood to confirm that there was no foul play involved,” added the police officer. (HT PHOTO)

According to the police, the incident occurred around 11.30am when Aman Shaikh, 19 and Adnan Shaikh, 21, were returning to their house in Appa Nagar in Tulinj, Nalasopara East. “Aman and Adnan were sitting on the edge of the well. They were waiting for their other cousins and relatives to take their goats for sacrifice to the local butcher house,” an officer from Tulinj police station said.

Imran Shaikh, 27, a relative of Aman and Adnan as well as an eyewitness to the incident, told police that as the two were sitting on the edge of the well, it started raining suddenly and they decided to take cover. When the two got up to run inside a house, Aman slipped and fell inside the well, he told the police.

“As Aman did not know how to swim and Adnan knew swimming, he immediately jumped inside to save Aman. We saw the incident and began shouting for help and waited but the two never surfaced on the water,” said Imran.

“We were going to celebrate Eid together by sacrificing the goats together like every year. This year, however, the two youngsters from our families are lost. The celebration has turned into a funeral for us,” Imran said.

After waiting for a few minutes when Imran could not see his brothers, he immediately called up the fire brigade and the police. “The fire brigade searched the well. At 12.20pm their bodies were fished out of the well,” the police officer said.

An accidental death report (ADR) has been registered in the matter and further investigations are underway. “Based on the statements of the eyewitnesses and locals it seems to be an unfortunate accident but we are investigating the case and have also called for the CCTV camera recordings of the neighbourhood to confirm that there was no foul play involved,” added the police officer.

The bodies of both men were sent for postmortem to the hospital.