Glenelg drowning victim Nitisha Negi hailed a hero as family seeks Indian court action
Nitisha Negi, who died at Glenelg Beach in 2017, has been posthumously recognised for helping another girl who survived.
SA News
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The girl who tragically died at Glenelg beach has been honoured as a hero in her home country, with her family now in court seeking answers from Indian agencies they claim had been entrusted with her safety.
Indian student Nitisha Negi, 15, was visiting SA with her soccer team for the Pacific School Games when a group of friends was knocked over by a wave about 5.40pm on December 10, 2017.
Surf lifesavers and members of the public helped rescue the group but Nitisha could not be found. Her body was discovered near Glenelg breakwater about 7am the following day.
Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel yesterday delivered his findings into the deaths of Nitisha, and Frank Ndikuriyo and Thiery Niyomwungere in 2016.
Speaking to The Advertiser from his home in Khichripur in east New Delhi, Nitisha’s father Pooran Singh Negi welcomed Mr Schapel’s broader recommendations to make the site safer.
“I don’t know what else to say on the recommendations,” Mr Singh said.
“Anything that prevents a family going through what we have is good.”
He also said the family had received the post-mortem report into her death earlier this year but questions remained.
“We still don’t know what exactly happened,” he said. “I have no answers yet for how my daughter, who was under the care of a number of local Indian agencies, didn’t come back home safely.”
The family proudly accepted two posthumous bravery awards given to Nitisha this year, after the girls who survived the incident reported her drowning was related to her efforts to help one of them, Mr Singh said.
“She received the Geeta Chopra Award in January from the Indian Council for Child Welfare and the Indian Government’s Sarvottam Jeevan Rakhsa Padak (second highest civilian award for saving a human life) in August,’ he said. “I am very proud of those awards and the ones that came before but I’d rather have my daughter with me.”
Mr Singh said he had lodged legal action, claiming negligence, against the New Delhi Government, its education department and the School Games Federation of India, which co-ordinated the visit to Australia.