Inter student drowns while rescuing his friend from lake in Hakimpet

Hyderabad: In a touching incident, a 19-year-old Intermediate second year (CEC) student of Pragnya Junior College drowned while saving a 12-year-old friend of his in Shikarikunta cheruvu in Hakimpet.

The victim G. Pavan Raj, along with Nitin Kumar, Venkat and Sunny went for a swim in Shikarkunta lake around 3.30 pm on Sunday, said G. Anjaiah, Pavan’s uncle.

On the ill-fated day, Pavan, who was busy tying goats on the banks of the lake, turned around and saw Nitin Kumar slip and fall into the lake. In an instant, he jumped into the water and pushed him to safety. While in the rescue act, he drowned and screamed for help.

“I was there. I swam across to reach out to the boy but it was too late. His body was lost in the 18 feet deep water. I immediately rushed to Nitin and pumped out water from his lungs” said Syed Abdullah, a local fisherman.

Pavan's father G. Srinivas Raj and many locals rushed to the lake on getting the news and made vain bids to trace the body.“I immediately dialed 100 and informed the police that my son had drowned,” Srinivas Raj said.

“We alerted six DRF and NDRF teams and went there along with local divers by 4.30 pm. We made an extensive search for the boy’s body but to no avail,” said M. Srinivasulu, inspector of Filmnagar police station. However, the body was retrieved Monday afternoon.

“The lake that is over 25 feet deep and has a radius of more than 100 metres is one of the oldest lakes in the city. Only people who are familiar with the lake come for fishing and swimming and only they know that there are four deep wells under the lake. This was perhaps why the rescue teams were not able to locate Pavan's body,” said M. Lakshman, a resident of BJR Nagar.

Recalling a sombre moment, Srinivas Raj said in a choked tone, “Pavan, my eldest son, was preparing for his supplementary exams. A few months back he told me that as I was working hard as a daily-wage painter to run the family, he wished to lend a helping hand by working so that the money could be used to take care of the education needs of my three children. Initially I refused but relented after coming to know that he had started working in hotels and packing units and was earning between `600 and `800 a day. He gave a part of the earnings to his mother for his siblings and saved the remaining amount for his college fees.”

An avid lover of birds and animals, Pavan had two tortoises, two dogs and a few birds as pets at his house in BJR Nagar. Pavan’s friend Lalit said “He used to work very hard. He had only a few friends. In the mornings, he used to work in packing centers and tiffin centers and save money for his own education fees and that of his brother Akshit and sister Harshita.”

Akshit Raj, 17, is pursuing his Intermediate first year, while Harshita, 16, was not able to attend her SSC examination on Monday as she was shattered by her brother’s tragic death.

Meanwhile, the rescue teams fished out the body Monday afternoon after 22 hours of intense searching.

Filmnagar police registered a case of suspicious death and shifted the victim's body to OGH for postmortem.