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Twenty-three-year-old Akash and his fiancée Gokulasree had their wedding date set in October, just about a month away. On September 27, the couple from Karur’s Kamarajapuram locality went to catch a glimpse of actor-politician Vijay, who was stopping by their town on his political campaign. It ended up being their last outing together. Both died in the tragic stampede at the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)’s Karur rally.
Among the 40 people who have died in the stampede so far are 17 women and nine children. The youngest, Guru Vishnu, was only two years old.
A heart-wrenching video from the Karur Government Medical College and Hospital showed a man holding his child’s body in his arms, walking up to Minister Anbil Mahesh and Karur MLA V Senthil Balaji and kneeling in front of them, wailing about his deceased son.
Ananth Raj, who runs a biriyani outlet, lost his wife Hemalatha (29) and their two daughters, Sai Lakshana (8) and Sai Shreya (4) in the stampede. Priyadarshini (35) and her daughter Dharanika (14) also did not make it. Two sisters, Palaniammal (11) and Kokila (14), also lost their lives in the stampede.
On the evening of September 27, over 30,000 people gathered at Velusamypuram on the Karur-Erode Road for Vijay’s bus to arrive. The crowd had been building up from nearly 7 am, waiting for Vijay to address them. He was expected to arrive at noon, but he was seven hours late. And the crowd not only waited till 7 pm, but grew larger by the hour.
As the situation became chaotic, many people like Akash and Gokulasree who were there with their loved ones started screaming in panic and tried to hold on to each other.
Families and friends of those who attended the rally began to worry when they heard news of the stampede. Some of them, like 22-year-old Brinda’s husband Sudhan, started to fear the worst when they couldn’t reach their loved ones over the phone.
Brinda had gone to the rally by herself around noon, which is when TVK had announced that Vijay would arrive. Sudhan, a daily wage worker, stayed home as he was still recovering from a recent accident.
Brinda ended up waiting all day to see Vijay, who arrived only after 7 pm and started his address.
“After hearing about the stampede, we tried but couldn’t reach her over phone. Around 11 pm, we called the helpline number announced by the government to share Brinda’s photos,” her mother told TNM.
After spending the entire night in dread, around 7 am on Sunday, they received a call asking them to go to the mortuary. Brinda was no more. She is survived by a child who will turn two on September 29, two days after her mother’s death.
Ramesh (32), another victim of the stampede, was also the father of a two-year-old. A daily wage worker, Ramesh went to the rally out of curiosity, to see how it would turn out. He wasn’t even an ardent fan of Vijay, according to his brother. Around 7.30 pm, soon after Vijay started addressing the crowd, Ramesh called his wife saying he was about to leave for home. That was the last she heard from him. Soon, the family learned of the stampede, and their search for Ramesh ended at the morgue.
Sankar Ganesh, a tailor from Namakkal, is another victim who died in the stampede. He is survived by his wife Malliga and their two children. Malliga told the media that her husband said he would attend Vijay’s rally after work.
“He kept talking to me on the phone till 5 pm. Then, the phone calls stopped. When I tried calling, a boy who found the phone answered my call. We were informed that Sankar was admitted in the government hospital. When we went there, they told us he had died. I have no one else. How do I look after my children now?” she said, breaking down.
The Tamil Nadu government has formed a Commission of Inquiry under Justice Aruna Jagadeesan to probe the stampede.
An FIR has also been registered against TVK’s Karur North district secretary Madhiazhagan, the party’s general secretary Bussy Anand, joint general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar, and others. They have been charged under sections 105 (culpable homicide), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 125 (endangering life of others), and 223 (disobedience to order) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act, 1992.
The TVK has announced a Rs 20 lakh solatium for the families of the victims. The party has also approached the Madras High Court seeking an independent probe, alleging conspiracies behind the stampede.