Out with his kids, dad dies trying to save stranger boy in Mumbai

MUMBAI: An employee with a courier company who was on an outing with his two children at Juhu beach on Sunday jumped into the water to save a 10-year-old boy but drowned. The child was rescued by the local people. The body of Ashish Dhusar, 38, was found on Monday morning a few kilometres away. He lived at Gazdar Bandh in Santacruz.
This year, so far, there have been 35 incidents of people venturing into the water at Juhu beach and getting pulled in by the strong currents. Lifeguards have managed to rescue many of them.
Police said the 10-year-old was catching crabs at Juhu Koliwada, about 500m away from where the lifeguard was stationed. Suddenly, the boy slipped and fell into the water. Dhusar, who was standing nearby with his eight-year-old daughter and six-year-old son, immediately jumped in to save him. "Dhusar was a good swimmer, but was struggling to reach the boy. Other locals too got into the water to help him," said a police officer. The boy was brought out safely, but there was no sign of Dhusar.
"The kids saw their father for the last time when he asked them to stand on the shore and he jumped into the water," the officer said.
A search operation was carried out late into the night. On Monday, a group of fishermen from Mora Gaon went over to the mangroves to untie their boats when they spotted the body and informed Juhu police.
Over the weekend, four separate incidents were reported at Juhu beach where civic lifeguards managed to rescue nine lives.
In one of the incidents, three young men from Andheri entered the water but encountered a strong wave. They tried to swim back to the shore but the strong current pulled them further into the sea. Lifeguards and a local resident brought them out to safety. In another case, three minors from Wadala were caught in a strong current at Juhu beach due to a sudden change in tides. Two lifeguards came to their rescue.