Man praying for a bride drowns at Banganga

A 36-year- old man who had gone to Banganga Tank in Walkeshwar to perform a puja to seek blessings for finding a match for himself, lost control, slipped into the water and died on Sunday.

The deceased, Mahesh Shetty, was a resident of Amar Nagar Cooperating Housing Society at Sasmira Road in Worli.

According to Shetty’s younger brother Narendra, the family has been visiting Banganga for the past three days to perform a puja for Mahesh’s griha-shaanti, so that he gets married soon. He said that the family was visiting Banganga on Sunday for the final puja.

“Mahesh was washing his clothes at the bank, and after completing the puja, when he was about to leave, he slipped and fell into the pond at around 11.30am. In an effort to rescue Mahesh, I lost my balance too and slipped into the water,” said an inconsolable Narendra.

According to the police, when the locals heard the screams of Shetty’s family members, who were also present at the spot, they jumped into the water and managed to rescue Narendra.

The Malabar Hill police and fire brigade officials were then alerted, who arrived at the famous temple site along with divers.

The fire brigade officials managed to locate Shetty’s body, which was lying above the muddy bottom of the pond. The rescue operation ended at around 6.15pm. Shetty was taken to Nair hospital at Mumbai Central, where he was pronounced dead on admission.

The police said that the Shetty brothers had come to Banganga to perform a puja as Mahesh was not getting married. “The family members have told the police that the family was going through a bad phase. Mahesh’s father had also expired six months ago and the family was in trauma,” said police sub-inspector and investigating officer Anil Harne of Malabar Hill police station.

He added that a case of accidental death has been registered at the police station.

The Shetty family is inconsolable and is suffering severe trauma after the incident. “I tried a lot to save my brother, but could not succeed. The puja was conducted so that Mahesh could get married soon, but we had no clue that he will not be with us anymore,” Narendra said.