NEW DELHI: “We didn’t even have money that day, she borrowed money from the neighbours and went to the satsang with ‘didi’ and ‘Laali’, and they never returned,” shared Leela, daughter-in-law of Jaya Devi, an elderly devotee of Bhole Baba. Jaya, accompanied by her daughter-in-law and 9-year-old granddaughter, Bhoomi, tragically lost their lives during a stampede at Fulrai.
The Hathras stampede has left a grim toll – 121 lives lost, families shattered. Amidst the political blame game, the cries of bereaved families echo unheard.
“I left for Bareilly two days ago for work. Around 6-6:30, I learned from neighbours that my mother had passed away. I came home 4-5 hours later to find my mother, wife and daughter dead”, recounted 51-year-old Binod, his voice laden with grief.
Daily wage worker Binod learned about the stampede through social media. “I saw some videos and photos online and learned about the incident,” he shared.
For families like Binod’s, mourning has been interrupted by the grim task of identifying bodies scattered across mortuaries. “There was a lot of difficulty in finding all three bodies, wandering here and there, Aligarh, Sikandararao, Etah, where the satsang was happening. We went to all the nearby hospitals. My brother went to take the body; I wasn’t even home. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even find the corpse, nor would I find the ashes. I wouldn’t have found the body of my Laali either,” he lamented as tears streamed down his cheeks.
Binod and Rajkumari have 4 children and 9-year-old Bhoomi was the youngest. “We are poor people; how will we manage? The shadow of mother is gone; now father will have to go to work. We didn’t even have that much money,” expressed Rajkumari’s sister-in-law.
Reflecting on the tragedy, Binod recalled Jaya’s devotion to Bhole Baba. “We have known about him for a long time but didn’t go to satsang. My mother had started going for 4-5 years; I also used to stop her, don’t go, if you get stuck in a stampede, it will be a problem. But she didn’t listen; she used to say that ‘nothing will happen.’ My wife also used to stop her, but she took Rajkumari forcibly that day,” he recounted.
Binod tore down posters of Bhole Baba at his home as he grappled with the loss of his entire family.
“Mother had unwavering faith in Baba. She used to say, ‘Come with me, take the blessings of the Lord.’ Where is that Lord? If He was a god, would this situation be happening today? If Baba had returned when the chaos erupted, the stampede wouldn’t have taken place. Baba did nothing, he is responsible for all this,” he asserted.
