18-year-old drowns while taking selfies

An 18-year-old girl, while clicking pictures with her two friends on the rocks outside Bandra fort, slipped into the sea and drowned, along with a complete stranger, who jumped into the sea in a bid to save her life on Saturday morning.

The incident occurred at around 10.45 am while deceased Tarannum Ansari (18), a Govandi resident and her two friends Anjum Khan (19) and Masturi Wasim Ali Khan (19) were clicking selfies and photographs of each other on the rocks.

“It was high tide and a huge wave of water came above the rock they were standing on. Ansari, who was dressed in a salwar, slipped as the rock got slippery,” said senior inspector Ramchandra Dhawale of Bandra police station. Anjum and Masturi too lost their balance. Anjum was slipping, but Masturi held her hand and started screaming for help.

While many chose to stare from a distance, braveheart Ramesh Rajaram Walanju, who was on his way to work, rushed towards them. Incidentally, Walanju usually left for work at 9 am, but since it was a Saturday he had to report at 11 am. As per Masturi’s statement, he helped the two and after learning that another had fallen, he kept his belongings on a rock and plunged in.

He went in deep, but unable to locate Tarannum, he tried to swim back to the rock and drowned in the process, said Masturi in her police statement. Fire brigade officials, swimmers from BMC, two rescue boats of the Mumbai police and a helicopter of the Indian Coast Guard carried out operations till night, but couldn’t locate their bodies. Tarannum is survived by her mother and brother. She was a student of SNDT College in Ghatkopar. The three friends are Govandi residents and had gone for an outing.

Walanju, nicknamed Kamya, is a resident of Jaffer Baba colony, a slum pocket behind Bandra fort. Walanju’s senior citizen mother Radhika, his wife, two daughters aged 12 and 15 years, and a three-year-old son survive him. He was the sole bread winner of the family.

The responsibility of managing the family is now on Walanju’s elder brother, who also has three children. Walanju was said to be an active citizen and a socially active person. He used to participate in all religious and social activities in the area. He is a native of Rajapur in the Konkan.

Shiv Sena had chosen him as the local leader for the slum and he used to take part in their blood donation camps.

Locals said Walanju knew how to swim. Many locals from the slum pocket have learnt swimming in the sea. But he was not a regular swimmer and hadn’t gone swimming for over a year.

Suresh Sawant (59) his uncle said, “There have been multiple instances in the past when locals have saved lives of persons drowning from this sea end. People just don’t learn. There is no authority to stop them from risking their lives.” Mr Sawant added, “Our men keep whistling asking people not to risk their lives, but they pay no heed. Last year too a person had drowned there.”

His immediate neighbour Mario Lonappa (42) said, “He didn’t have any vices. He was like family. I would not do what he did. He should not have taken the risk, as the youngsters were being irresponsible. Mostly couples come to sit on the rocks for privacy. They have no idea about the waves,”

“Since we often go there, we know how dangerous the waves are. I, along with locals, have saved two lives on a couple of occasions, once on Carter Road and second near Bandra fort. Once a boyfriend ran off leaving his girlfriend surrounded by heavy waves at Carter Road. In the second, a pregnant lady was stuck with her husband on the rocks at Bandra fort,” he added.