Sorry Pranita... The gut-wrenching truth behind Gokarna selfie death'!

Mangaluru, Jun 3: Contrary to media reports that the death of a law student at a beach in Uttara Kannada district last weekend was the result of her selfie craze', the eye witnesses and friends of the 21-year-old victim claimed that she was washed away by high tides while sitting on a boulder.

Pranita Mehta from Jodhpur National Law University, holidaying with a group of friends at Gokarna drowned in Arabian Sea on May 29. Various news reports had claimed that she slipped and fell to her death while trying to take the “perfect selfie” from the top of a light house. Based on the localites' version, Coastaldigest.com report also had claimed that she lost her balance and slipped into sea from a boulder while taking selife.

However, the friends of Pranita, who were hurt by the media reports, on Friday contacted Coastaldigest.com to give the correct version of the incident.

Kruti Venkatesh, a law student from the same university and also a close friend of Pranita, said that the latter was sitting on rocks when she was swept away by high tide unexpectedly. “She was not taking selfie. It was absolutely false report,” she said.

It is learnt that the girl was trying to fight for her life for almost half an hour. According her friends, Pranita held on to a rock and tried to swim to the shore braving the high tide, but unfortunately she was carried away deep into sea.

“Everyone created the selfie' version. None of the news reports brought to light the fact that she was struggling in the water for almost 30 minutes after being taken in by a wave,” said another friend of the victim.

The first information report filed by the local police states that Pranita was one the five persons who visited Gokarna. From there, they went to the lighthouse on Belekan beach, where they sat on some rocks near the sea. A strong wave suddenly came and carried Pranita into the water. The friends tried to save her but in vain.

Though her friends asked local fishermen for help, it was too late. They could only pull out her body from the swirling sea waters. Gokarna was the third stop for Pranita and her friends from Rajasthan who also visited Mumbai and Goa.

Coastaldigest.com apologises for the hurt caused to the girl's family and friends by the report, which quoted the local residents instead of eye-witnesses of the incident.