The family of a 15-year-old Indian soccer player Nitisha Negi who drowned in Adelaide last year has demanded an inquiry and $7 million in compensation from the authorities in India.
In a petition filed in the Delhi High Court, Ms Negi’s family has alleged that their daughter died due to the “utter negligence and lapses” of the officials who took the players to the Glenelg beach on December 10th, 2017.
The plea further stated, "the beach where Negi died is a notorious place for drowning and despite this, the officials did not take any serious preventive steps to avoid tragedy and there were serious lapses from their side”.
Ms Negi was part of India’s Under-18 soccer team visiting Australia to participate in the Pacific School Games jointly organised by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), the Government of Australia and School Sports Australia.
Source: AAP
The teenager lost her life while she was swimming along with four of her teammates near the breakwater section of the Glenelg beach that is notorious for drowning incidents.
While all other girls were rescued and shifted to a nearby hospital, Ms Negi’s body was recovered after 13 hours of tireless efforts by the police and surf life-saving crews.
Responding to the petition, Justice Vibhu Bakhru of the Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Government of India, the Delhi State Government and the school authorities, seeking their response into the matter. The next court hearing in the matter is scheduled to take place on May 8, 2019.
Earlier in 2017, the Delhi government had ordered a probe into the role of the organisers in the entire incident.
Free swimming lessons will be imparted to children aged 1-5 this week in 400 swimming schools across Australia. Source: Learn2Swim Facebook
Ms Negi’s drowning is just one of a large number of drownings that have cost international students and foreign visitors their lives in Australia.
According to the National Drownings Report, one in four people drowning in Australian waters over the past decade were born overseas.
International students were the fourth-largest category when it came to drownings, with recent arrivals and tourists being the other leading categories.
Royal Life Saving Australia runs water-safety programmes around the country specifically targeting migrants and international students to avoid such incidents.
The programmes focus on providing swimming lessons, water-safety instructions and knowledge of appropriate beach behaviour.
