Bengaluru, Sep 26 (DHNS): A 17-year-old student of National College Jayanagar, drowned on Sunday at Ravugodlu village, where he had gone trekking.

G Vishwas and 24 students from the college had been to the village, off Kanakapura Road, on Saturday, and stayed overnight at the Gunda Anjaneya temple.

They were part of the National Cadet Corps, camping out on the outskirts of the city.

On Sunday morning, they set out on a trek to a hill in Ravugodlu. They came down around 2 pm. About a dozen students then went to the temple kalyani (stepped tank) to swim.

The students take a selfie as Vishwas (circled) drowns in the water

The tank is about 10 feet deep, and Vishwas, who did not know swimming, joined the group.

His friends were busy playing in the water and taking selfies when Vishwas went down in the water.

Sumanth A, a student in the group, said, “We were done swimming and started for the temple, and realised Vishwas was not around.”

A boy in our group was replaying selfie videos on his mobile phone and noticed Vishwas drowning in the tank.”

The boy alerted Girish, the college NCC chief, and other friends. “By the time we came back to the kalyani, an hour had passed,” Sumanth said.

Father’s misery

Govindaiah, Vishwas’s father, was appalled the college had not called him to tell him about what had happened.

“I received a call from his friends and reached the spot. Neither Girish nor the college authorities informed me about the incident,” he said.

The college had taken the boys out on an NCC camp. They should take responsibility for our children’s lives, he added.

“The Kaggalipura police called Girish over the phone and told him to appear before them, but he didn’t turn up,” Govindaiah, who works as an auto driver, said.