SEA OF TROUBLE: Mohit Kumar's body washed ashore at the Gateway of India 5.5 hours after his death. FILE PIC

Mohit Kumar (20) from New Delhi came to Mumbai to appear for his marine engineering exam, did not get through, and, believes his uncle, committed suicide. Yesterday, his body washed ashore at 5.30 pm in front of a railway guesthouse at the Gateway of India.

Said PSI S S Gaikwad from Colaba police station, "There were no visible injuries on the body." Bystanders saw Mohit fall from the parapet near Gateway of India around noon and immediately called the police. From 12.30 pm the Coast Guard and the fire brigade searched for his body for an hour, but did not find it.  Finally, at 5.30 pm, his body washed ashore and was taken to St George Hospital for a postmortem.

Added Gaikwad, "We found his mobile phone in his pocket, retrieved the SIM and called his family."

Mohit's uncle believes the boy committed suicide, "He did not figure in the 150 (out of 1,500) who got admission in marine engineering. I think he was devastated as his dreams were unfulfilled. We were supposed to get back to Delhi on Thursday."

His uncle added, "Around 11 am he went with his parents to see the Gateway of India, from where they went to Hanging Gardens. Mohit asked his parents to take a stroll, while he sat on a bench. When his parents came back after 20 minutes, he was missing and so they filed a missing complaint with the Malabar Hill police station."
"We need lifeguards or the parapet near the Gateway has to be raised. There is no other way to avoid such incidents," said Gaikwad.