18-year-old girl goes for a swim in Vasai private pool, drowns

Residents said the pool had not been used for over six months and was flooded with rain water.

An 18-year-girl drowned in the swimming pool of a residential complex in Virar (West) on Friday. A case of accidental death has been registered by the Arnala Coastal Police. The victim, Mansi Parekh, resided in the building complex in Gokul Township where the incident took place.

The pool had not been used for six months and was flooded with rain water, said residents. (HT Photo)

According to residents, the pool had not been used for over six months and had been flooded with rain water. However, for the past few days, the residents had been using the pool to bathe owing to frequent power supply cuts caused by torrential rain in the area.

According to police, Mansi left the house around 10.30 am to use the pool. When she did not return half an hour later, her mother started to get worried. With the help of other residents, they searched the area and scanned CCTV footage in the building.

However, they found no trace of Mansi. Around 1.30pm, Mansi’s body surfaced on the pool. When locals noticed the body, Mansi was rushed to a private hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.

Police sub-inspector Hemant Katkar, public relations officer of Palghar Police, said that an accidental death report has been registered and they are awaiting the post-mortem reports.

The funeral was conducted on Friday evening. Mansi, who was attending a local college, had celebrated her birthday just a week ago on July 6.

The family had moved to the residential complex from Kandivli in May.