‘I Want To Stay Here Too': Father Mourns Son's Death In Bengaluru Stampede

News18

3 hours ago

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Four individuals have been arrested concerning the stampede, and five police officers, including the Bengaluru Police Commissioner, have been suspended.
A heart-wrenching video of a father mourning over his son's grave has brought the personal tragedies of the stampede to the forefront, where 11 people lost their lives and 47 were injured at the Chinnaswamy Stadium after RCB's IPL victory celebrations turned chaotic. The incident occurred on Wednesday when people celebrated the RCB's victory in the Indian Premier League.
In the video, a man, BT Lakshma, who is the father of 21-year-old Bhumik Lakshman, who died in the stampede, wails at his son's grave at their native village in Hassan district.
'What happened to my son should not happen to anyone," he says, lying down on the ground with his head pressed against the grave. 'The land I had bought for him is where his memorial has been built."
Refusing to let go, Lakshman says, 'I don't want to go anywhere else now. I want to stay here too," as two other men approach him and help him to his feet. 'No father should have to face what I am facing," he laments.
Bhumik, a final-year engineering student, was among the thousands of people who had gathered outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday to celebrate and catch a glimpse of the players who had won RCB the IPL title after an 18-year wait. He was one of the 11 victims, including a 14-year-old girl, who tragically lost their lives in the stampede.
A video of Lakshman mourning at his son's grave has gone viral. It has also been shared by the Karnataka BJP, which criticised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, accusing them of having 'murderous" intentions.
'Murderous CM @siddaramaiah sir, murderous DCM @DKShivakumar sir, if you had made up your mind, you could have taken a photo with your children and grandchildren in a luxurious hotel with a cup. But your insistence on taking a photo on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha has made 11 families wash their hands in tears every day. Can you give this father his son back?" the handle of the Karnataka unit of the BJP posted in Kannada on X.
Earlier, after the tragedy, Lakshman had spoken to reporters and made a heartfelt appeal to the government, requesting that his son's body not be subjected to dissection during the post-mortem.
'I had only one son, and now I have lost him. Please give me his body, don't conduct a post-mortem and cut his body into pieces. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister may visit us (the victims of the tragedy), but they can't bring him back," he had said, fighting tears.
Meanwhile, the Congress has repeatedly accused the BJP of politicising the issue and said the Karnataka government is doing all it can to help the families of the victims and ensure that a tragedy like this doesn't occur again.
Four individuals have been arrested concerning the stampede, and five police officers, including the Bengaluru Police Commissioner, have been suspended. Additionally, the Karnataka government has taken disciplinary action against CM Siddaramaiah's Political Secretary, K Govindaraj, and the state intelligence department chief, dismissing them from their positions.
First Published:
June 08, 2025, 07:34 IST