Overview

• A 20-year-old man identified as Ayush drowned on Saturday at Parewa Khoh in Madhya Pradesh after entering the swollen river to retrieve a floating slipper.
• The incident was captured in a viral video showing him using a wooden stick to reach the slipper before losing his footing in the strong current.
• State Disaster Response Force divers recovered Ayush’s body on Sunday after launching a search operation that continues to monitor risk-prone water bodies.
• Earlier this month, a 14-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man died in separate slipper-retrieval accidents at the Kamvari River in Bhiwandi and the Phansad Dam in Murud.
• Safety advocates and state officials have renewed demands for immediate installation of barriers, clear warning signs and supervised access at rural and semi-urban water sites.