Mumbai: A 29-year-woman and a 15-year-old girl -- both members of the same family -- drowned at Juhu beach on Sunday. They were warned by lifeguards at the beach but stepped into the sea nonetheless and were carried away by the surging waves.
According to the police, the deceased -- Maya Mahendra Singh (29) and Nisha Karanpal Singh (15) -- were residents of Sion; they were with other family members at the time of the incident.
Being a Sunday, visitors descend on the beach in large numbers. The Singh family, too, were on an outing.
What made it indeed a sorry spectacle was that the lifeguards deployed at the beach tried their best to dissuade the two women; however, they got into an argument with the lifeguards and as if to score a point, ventured into the choppy waters.
Such was the force of the current that they were literally swept off their feet while still in the shallow area. According to preliminary information received by the fire brigade, the incident occurred in the evening.
To their credit, the lifeguards jumped into the sea, but by the time they could get a hold of the two, they had drowned, gobbled up by the waves.
The two bodies were later retrieved but it was too late. They were nonetheless rushed to Cooper Hospital but declared dead on arrival. An Accidental Death Report has been registered, said a police official.
