With two deaths in Goa temple stampede, a family from Thivim counts its losses
After patiently waiting in queue for an hour, Tanuja Kauthankar, 51, and her nephew Aditya Kauthankar, 16, had been carefully making their way down the steep incline leading to Lairai Devi temple in North Goa's Shirgao village early Saturday morning when a sudden push from behind them meant they were both thrown to the ground. In the next few minutes, the two were crushed under a crowd and died on the spot.
The two were among the six killed in a stampede at the annual pilgrimage festival (Jatra) at Lairai Devi temple. Seventy people were wounded in the incident.
'He dreamed of being a police officer,' Aditya's uncle Kishore Kauthankar tells The Indian Express. 'He had the height too. A young life has been cut short.'
As panic ensued and the crowd tried to escape, Tanuja's 15-year-old daughter Rutika, who had also accompanied them, also fell down but was rescued by some locals, her family says. She suffered a leg injury and is undergoing treatment at the district hospital in Mapusa.
While Tanuja was a home-maker, Aditya had recently taken his Class 10 exams. At the mortuary of the Goa Medical College Saturday, the Kauthankar family, who are natives of Thivim village in Bardez taluka, counted its losses. 'If only the authorities had put up barricades…or managed the crowd better. Our loss is irreparable,' a relative, Urvesh Kauthankar, says.
The jatra had been a family tradition – Tanuja had been going three decades while Aditya began attending four years ago.
'It is a tradition in our family,' Urvesh says. 'She (Tanuja) had been fasting for the last few days. When I spoke to her around 8 pm Friday, she said she would be going to offer prayers late at night, and promised to bring me back a marigold flower (given as offering).'
Tanuja was eventually taken to the Mapusa hospital but was declared brought dead.
'We heard from people who were near her, that she fell and was crushed under several, who were rushing to escape. We shudder to think what she went through,' Kishore says.
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