Some of the friends of the victim have come up with a version of events that differ from the story that was put out by many publications including us. They are claiming that she didn’t even go to the lighthouse on that particular day.

We spoke to one of the victim’s friends, Roshni Namboodiry over the phone and here’s what she said: “The entire incident has been falsely reported. She was washed away by a tide alongwith some of her friends. The silly story about clicking a selfie is completely false.”

According to eyewitnesses and as stated in the First Information Report filed at the Gokarna Police Station of Uttar Kannad District, Pranita was sitting with three friends on rocks by the sea at Kumta Beach at Gokarna when she was swept away by the tide.

She had held on to a rock for support but lost her grip, and was carried away by the current into the sea. Her body was brought back to the shore by local fishermen 40 minutes after the accident and she was declared dead.

Contrary to extensive press coverage that followed the accident, in which Pranita’s death was incorrectly depicted as a consequence of careless selfie-taking, she did not, in fact, fall to her death off a 30-foot lighthouse. The Post Mortem Report does not cite any injuries which may have resulted from such a fall.

ScoopWhoop received the above information this afternoon from Pranita’s friends who were present at the time of the accident and had filed the FIR. We apologise to Pranita’s family and friends for hurting their sentiments and maligning her memory by publishing an incorrect account of her death. We also apologise to our readers for relying on other newspapers for this story without verifying their sources.

Through a Reddit post — PranitaThrowaway, another friend, has posted details about the entire incident online.

Here’s the post: 

Pranita, who was a student of National Law University, Jodhpur, was visiting Gokarna with four of her friends. They were at Kumta beach, and were sitting on some rocks which were about 10-15 feet above sea, when due to unexpected high tide, 3 of the youngsters, including the deceased, were flown away by a giant wave. 

Two of them were brought back to the shore by another wave, but the deceased, whose glasses had come off, continued to struggle as she held on to a rock for support she bravely struggled and tried to swim for 45 mins. Unfortunately, she lost her grip, and was carried towards the deeper end of the sea by the waves. 

The friends promptly called the Police as well as the Management of the Hotel they were staying at, and proceeded to seek help from the local residents from a nearby village. However, they could not understand the youngsters’ plea for help, and by the time they did send some help, about forty minutes had already passed and the deceased was out of sight. 

She was brought back ashore on a boat by some of the local fishermen, and was pronounced dead by the authorities. Her body was taken for post-mortem and was handed over to her relatives afterwards.

The copy of the FIR and the post mortem report has been removed as per the family member’s wishes.