Muktsar, December 11
On the heels of the death of a Ropar student by robbers at Santiago (US), another youth, Avneet Kaur, has met with tragic end in Australia as she drowned on the sea shore of Melbourne yesterday.

The news of the girl's death reached her native Middu Khera village of Muktsar district this morning and the bereaved family members said the documents required to get the body of the 24-year-old girl back home had been sent to the Australian embassy.

Avneet went to Australia last month only for an MBA course after graduating from a Chandigarh college. But she lost her life when she was playing with her two friends on seashore in Melbourne. The two others, also from India, had a miraculous escape, the bereaved family sources said after receiving the tragic news.

The body was expected within a day or two, said the dead girl's landlord father Gurdial Singh.

The girl was bright and she had got admission in Delhi's Lady Shri Ram (LSR) college after her schooling from Shimla. But she later shifted to a Chandigarh college in the secnd year as she could not get hostel accommodation at the LSR.

This incident became second tragedy of its kind within two days as Preet Rupinder Singh, a student of M. Tech (Electronics), from Ropar was shot dead in Santiago during a robbery at a store where he used to work on weekends.

IANS adds from Sydney: Avneet was killed after being swept away while taking a dip in the sea.She with two friends had entered the water at Hutt Gully near the seaside town of Anglesea,110 km southwest of Melbourne.Around 6.30 pm on Monday, a friend had raised an alarm after seeing his companion being dragged out to sea by a rip. She had been wading in water, perhaps with no intention to swim, and was dumped by a wave and taken about 50 meters to sea.