Sept 16: In a tragic turn of events, A. Praneeth, an Indian student from Hyderabad, drowned in a lake in Canada while celebrating his birthday. Praneeth, who had recently completed his master’s degree and was job hunting, had traveled with friends and his brother to a cottage near Clear Lake on Saturday.
Praneeth, originally from Ranga Reddy district in Hyderabad, had relocated to Canada in 2019 for his studies, with his elder brother joining him in 2022.
According to Praneeth’s father, A. Ravi, Praneeth went swimming with friends and his brother on Sunday morning but failed to return to the shore. Ravi received the devastating news of his son’s death from one of Praneeth’s friends. Local authorities were notified, and rescue teams took over 10 hours to reach the lake, eventually recovering Praneeth’s body in the evening.
The grieving family is now seeking government assistance to expedite the repatriation of Praneeth’s body to India. Ravi expressed profound sorrow over the loss, emphasizing the heartbreaking irony of his son’s birthday turning into a day of mourning.
“This was supposed to be a celebration. Praneeth went swimming with friends and his brother, but he did not return,” Ravi told reporters.
This incident follows a series of tragic events involving Indian students abroad. In July, Sai Surya Avinash Gadde, an Indian student at Trine University, drowned at Barbervilley Falls in Albany, New York. Earlier, Guntipalli Sowmya, a student at Florida Atlantic University from Telangana, was killed in a road accident in Florida. Additionally, Belem Atchyuth, a student at the State University of New York from Andhra Pradesh, died in a bike accident in the US in May. In the same month, a car crash in Alpharetta, Georgia, resulted in the deaths of three Indian-origin students and injuries to two others.
