BENGALURU: In a freak accident, selfie craze proved fatal for a 19-year-old teenager, who was clicking pictures standing at the door of a moving train, banged into the iron beam of a bridge and fell into the Lokapavani river in Mandya. His body was fished out eight days later.
The deceased has been identified as Abhishek A S, who hailed from KR Pet taluk in Mandya. He was working in a bar and restaurant in Gandhinagar and had gone missing on November 6. His relative had lodged a missing person’s complaint with the Upparpet police on November 8.
During investigation, the police found out that Abhishek had informed his family members on November 6 that he was catching a train to Pandavapura that night but had not reached home. “A list of those who were in contact with him was made and four of friends were questioned. They revealed that Abhishek had asked them to come to his village as there was the opening ceremony of a temple and the five had boarded a train from KSR Railway Station to Pandavapura at midnight,” the police said.
“During the journey, they were clicking selfies. Around 2 am on November 7, the train was crossing a bridge. They went to the door where Abhishek leaned out to click a selfie without noticing the iron beams. He banged against a beam and fell into the Lokapavani river. The friends got down at Pandavapura station and went to their homes deciding not to inform Abhishek’s parents, fearing they would be blamed for the incident,” the police said.
The police started a search for the body on November 10 with the help of Railway Police, the rescue team of the Fire & Emergency Services department in Mandya, and local divers. “As there were rains, the body floated in the river and was fished out near Srirangapatna on November 14,” the police added.