‘Who will return my son to me?'
As the bodies of the victims from Wednesday's stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium were released to grieving families, grief quickly turned to anger. One after another, heartbroken parents, spouses and relatives accused the government and organisers of gross negligence, holding them responsible for the chaos that claimed the lives of their loved ones, many of them students and young professionals who had only come to see their cricketing heroes.
The message from families was clear: this tragedy could have been prevented.
'I kept telling him not to go,' said DT Lakshman, father of 20-year-old Bhoomik DL, an engineering student from Hassan. 'His mother too told him not to go. But, he wanted to click pictures and post them on social media. Now, no matter how loud I call his name, he will not come back. Ministers may visit us, but who will return my son to me?'
Bhoomik's body was brought to his native Kuppugodu village, where the family conducted the final rites. 'What should I do with all this wealth now, without my son?' Lakshman asked, having spent years building a future for Bhoomik in Bengaluru.
In Puttur, the family of 19-year-old Chinmayi Shetty echoed his sentiments. A bright engineering student and Yakshagana performer, Shetty died after being crushed by the crowd. 'She had so many dreams — she was good at studies, passionate about sports and Yakshagana,' said her uncle Sadananda Shetty. 'If there had been proper crowd control, this could have been avoided.'
Akshatha Pai, 26, a chartered accountant and gold medallist attended the event with her husband Akshay Pai. They had both taken the day off, and entered the stadium through Gate No. 17, proudly wearing RCB jerseys. 'We were walking in together, holding hands,' Ashay Pai recalled. 'Suddenly, there was a huge push… I lost hold of her. I searched frantically. Then I saw her, lying motionless on the ground… She was wearing the RCB t-shirt. That's how I recognised her.'
The body of 14-year-old Divyamshi BS, a Class 9 student, was taken to Andhra Pradesh by her family after a tearful farewell in Bengaluru. Her mother Ashwini blamed the authorities for the failure to control the crowd. 'They said entry was free, so why didn't they open all gates?' she asked.
Ashwini's anger was echoed by Divyamshi's grandfather Lakshmi Narayana. 'There was no police deployment at Gate 15,' he said. 'She went with her mother and aunt. Those present had to rush her to the hospital in an auto.'
In Mandya's Rayasamudra village, the family of 27-year-old civil engineer Poorna Chandra was in mourning. He had travelled to Bengaluru for the celebration with friends, but never made it back. 'Just the night before, we had sweets at home to celebrate RCB's victory,' said his mother Leelavathi. 'Now that very celebration has taken our son away from us.' His uncle Somashekar revealed that the family had planned his wedding for the upcoming Shravana season. 'We had even asked him to meet a prospective bride just yesterday,' he said.
Another life lost was that of 17-year-old Shivalinga Chandappa Kumbara, a pre-university student from Yelahanka. His parents, daily-wage labourers from Yadgir district, were informed by police late at night that their son had 'met with an accident'.
'When we reached the hospital, we saw his body and were shocked beyond words,' said his brother Honnappa. 'There were clear signs of injuries on his chest from being trampled.'
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