New updates following the Bengaluru stampede in which 11 people were killed have been making the headlines lately. And now, a video from Karnataka’s Hassan district that shows a father mourning the loss of his 21-year-old son is going viral.
BT Lakshman, father of Bhumik Lakshman – one of the 11 victims who died in the stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium – is seen in the video crying inconsolably and refusing to leave his son’s grave. “I don’t want to go anywhere else now. I want to stay here too,” he sobs, lying flat on the ground.
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Bhumik, a 21-year-old from Hassan, was amongst nearly 50 others injured during the crowd surge on Wednesday at an event held to felicitate IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The celebratory function, organised outside the Vidhana Soudha, turned tragic after the crowd swelled uncontrollably. Among the deceased were three teenagers and several youths aged between 20 and 35.
“The land I had bought for him is where his memorial has been built,” Mr Lakshman says, surrounded by villagers as two men gently try to lift him to his feet. “What happened to my son should not happen to anyone. No father should have to face what I am facing.”
The video, widely shared on social media, has sparked outrage, with the Karnataka BJP accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar of ignoring basic crowd management in favour of political optics.
A tweet from the party’s official handle reads, “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, sitting in front of his son’s grave and crying?!”
The state government has come under increasing pressure since the incident. Four people have been arrested in connection with the stampede, and five senior police officials – including the Bengaluru Police Commissioner – have been suspended. On Friday, the Karnataka government sacked CM Siddaramaiah’s political secretary, K Govindaraj, and removed the chief of the state intelligence department.