‘Selfie’ Obsession For Social Media Often Turns Fatal; Know Recent Incidents

Bhubaneswar: People are going to any lengths nowadays to click the right pictures at the right places, not because they want to create a memory out of it but simply to post them on social media, seek validation from others and count the likes. Sadly, they often pay for it with their lives. That one moment of joy often turns fatal. Whether it is wading in the water, climbing atop a mountain, hanging on a tree, stand on the edge of a dangerous cliff – they do things that they otherwise would have never done.

Four incidents of such negligence have come to light in the last 72 hours and 8 people have lost their lives. In one such incident in Mumbai, the parents of two children went to the danger zone to take photographs at the beach. A huge wave engulfed the woman, while the man got saved.

In another incident, two boys drowned in the river in Nani’s Etawah Nanihal, UP, while they were making an Instagram reel in the Singer River. The boys were 17 and 13 years old respectively. According to eyewitnesses, they continued making reels even though the water level of the river increased. What is more, they even started bathing. One of them slipped. The other boy tried to save him but ended up drowning himself. Four other boys who were also present there could not save them.

In Kanpur, a young man in Kanpur, got swept away in the Pandu river while making an Instagram reel, while his four companions stood in front of him just shouting. All five boys had gone to the bank of river Pandu to make their reel. One of them, Ansh, took off his clothes and jumped into the river claiming he knew how to swim but got swallowed by the water.

In another incident, four youths died tragically after drowning in a lake while taking a selfie in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. The incident took place in Khodjari Lake of Nagbhid tehsil, Chandrapur district. Eight young boys from Shegaon went to Khodjari Lake to enjoy the rain. One of them started taking a selfie on the edge of the lake, slipped and fell into the lake. His three friends entered the lake one by one to save him, but all three of them also started drowning.