HYDERABAD: As long as craze for selfies continues to rule Indian minds, heart wrenching incidents keep recurring.
The latest victim is a Class 10 boy who paid the price with his life when he tried to scale a slippery rock at Nehru Zoological park in Hyderabad and slipped into the plunge pool of an artificial waterfall.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon, when Manjeet Chowdhary of Jiyaguda near Purana Pul, arrived at the zoo along with family to celebrate vacation. The boy had appeared for the board exams which ended just 24 hours before tragedy struck him. While family members alleged that the cause of Manjeet’s death was electrocution, police said they were trying to ascertain the reason behind his death.
Manjeet Chowdhary was a native of Bihar and his family had migrated to the city a decade back. At around 12 noon on Tuesday, Manjeet arrived at the zoo park along with his brother-in-law, elder and younger sisters. The boy was in a jovial mood as his exams just got over. As he entered the zoo, Manjeet took a few selfies, and posed for family photos. At around 1.30 pm, the family reached the Butterfly Park when Manjeet entered the no-entry zone to risk a selfie. Close to the enclosure, there is a huge rock with an artificial waterfall. There is a plunge pool around it and the enclosure is separated by two layers of low boundary walls. It is barricaded with a metal railing and a ‘No Entry’ sign fixed on it.
Bahadurpura Police said that Manjeet tried to climb the rock, slipped and fell into the water. He was taken to Osmania Hospital where doctors declared him dead. Zoo park officials ruled out any possibility of electrocution.