Somwati Devi, 60, wanted prosperity for her family: jobs for her four sons and good marriage prospects for her daughters. With her husband unemployed and unable to lift them out of poverty, she became a devotee of Bhole Baba in the hope of divine intervention.
But on 2 July, she was one of 121 people killed in a stampede at a prayer meeting organised by spiritual leader, who reinvented himself as a religious figure after retiring as a police constable. “Her blind faith has killed her,” her son Brijesh Kumar, 32, tells The Independent. “She just wanted some stability and success” for all of her eight children.
Ravi Kumar, 30, saw how the disaster began after dropping off his uncle at the gathering in Hathras, in northern India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.
“After the congregation was over, people ran after him [Bhole Baba] to collect the soil that his feet touched in the hope that their fortunes might change,” he tells The Independent. “Since there was rainfall, people slipped on top of each other,” he says. It resulted in one of the deadliest stampedes the country has seen.
Speaking from his home in Patiali, a village in Hathras not far from the scene of the stampede, Brijesh Kumar describes the moment he found out about the unfolding tragedy. “I received a call saying that my mother is unconscious but she is breathing,” Kumar says.
“But someone else snatched the phone saying she is dead. As soon as I heard, I left for the hospital in Etah [district], where I was told she had passed away. But I was not allowed to touch her, see whether she had a slow beating heart, or if she had a pulse. She was put in a room with 20-25 dead people. I don’t even know whether she was alive when I reached there or if she was left to die with others. We have not been given any reason for how she died, even though they have done the post-mortem.”
This story is from the July 09, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 09, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
'I didn't think I'd make it'
Adam Smith, the commentator with a voice synonymous with boxing’, tells Alex Pattle about his enforced absence from the sport and his agonising battle with cancer
England charge back after early Australian fireworks
England weathered some early fireworks from Travis Head to restrict Australia to 179 in their series-opening T20 against Australia.
Reeves must cut the gloom to return the UK to growth
Not many people are inclined to feel much sympathy for Rachel Reeves at the moment the cut to winter fuel payments could hardly have gone down worse but she’s been dealt a dismal hand. And now the economy has stalled on her.
Stones opens up on Euros hurt and Harry's hundred.
Defender eyes century of caps as young Lions add energy’
‘Age gap, schmage gap - it's a bit cringe, but love is love'
Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall are co-writers, co-stars, and married. They tell Ellie Harrison what it’s like to work together on their hit comedy series Colin from Accounts’
How 'Funeral' cost Arcade Fire blood, sweat and tears
Mark Beaumont talks to members of the band about how the seminal album was shaped by death, near-fatal live shows and the Montreal music scene, 20 years since its initial release
'I realised he could kill me
After James Barr’s ex became abusive, the comedian ended up living in fear of his partner. He believes we need to talk more about domestic violence in the queer community
'I use my fuel allowance to go out for dinner at The Ivy'
As the backlash grows over the decision to cut the benefit for some pensioners, Zoe Beaty heads to Harrogate in Yorkshire where she nears two very different takes on Labour’s policy
Where's a warm winter trip outside the Schengen area?
A Brexit really does keep on giving, doesn’t it? The decision to leave the European Union was followed by the UK securing its status as a “third country”, alongside Paraguay and East Timor, thereby making British travellers subject to all kinds of red tape.
The thrilling tale of six days that changed Britain forever
Ben Macintyre’s unputdownable new book The Siege’ tells the story of an SAS op like no other, writes Robert McCrum
