Panaji:
Almost a fortnight after he drowned in Mandovi river, a 17-year-old boy has emerged as the state topper in the vocational stream of the Goa higher secondary school certificate (HSSC) examination. “Our son Muhammad Arafat Shaik has secured 92.6 per cent in the HSSC results,” his father Mubarak Ali told reporters here today, a day after the results were declared.
“We have learnt that he has ranked first in the state in the vocational stream,” said Ali. Ali is a former principal of Guardian Angel Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, located in Sanvordem village, where the teenager was studying.
The mishap occurred on April 30 after Shaik entered the river for a swim while picnicking with his friends. While he was struggling to stay afloat, a councillor from Margao Municipal Council, Ashlesha Naik, who was in another group, jumped into water to save him but both were washed away by strong currents.
Their bodies were later found a few metres away. As per the results announced by the Goa HSSC Board, 90.10 per cent of total students who had appeared for the exam had passed.
