"I Want To Stay Here Too": Father Holds On To Grave Of Son Killed In Stampede

Out to celebrate the victory of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League, 11 people were killed and 47 were injured when a stampede broke out at the gates of the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. The statistics, however, sometimes overshadow the personal tragedies, and a video of a father crying and clinging to his son's grave has brought them sharply into focus.

The video shows BT Lakshman - father of 21-year-old Bhumik Lakshman, who died in the stampede - wailing at his son's grave at their native village in Hassan district. 

"What happened to my son should not happen to anyone," he says, lying down on the ground with his head pressed against the grave. "The land I had bought for him is where his memorial has been built."

Refusing to let go, Mr Lakshman says, "I don't want to go anywhere else now. I want to stay here too," as two other men approach him and help him to his feet. "No father should have to face what I am facing," he laments. 

A final-year engineering student, Bhumik was among the thousands of people who had gathered outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday to celebrate and catch a glimpse of the players who had won RCB the IPL title after an 18-year wait. He was among the 11 people, including a 14-year-old girl, who had died in the stampede that followed.

Mr Lakshman had spoken to reporters after the tragedy and appealed to the government that his son's body be given to him without being "cut up" during a post-mortem. 

"I had only one son, and now I have lost him. Please give me his body, don't conduct a post-mortem and cut his body into pieces. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister may visit us (the victims of the tragedy), but they can't bring him back," he had said, fighting tears. 

BJP's Attack

The video of Mr Lakshman at his son's grave has also been shared by the Karnataka unit of the BJP, which has accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar of being "murderous".

"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?" the handle of the Karnataka unit of the BJP posted in Kannada on X. 

The reference was to the felicitation of the RCB players at the Vidhana Soudha - the state legislature complex - where several key Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, were present.

The Congress, however, has repeatedly accused the BJP of politicising the issue and said the Karnataka government is doing all it can to help the families of the victims and ensure that a tragedy like this doesn't occur again. 

The police have arrested four people in connection with the stampede and five police officers, including the Bengaluru Police Commissioner, have been suspended. On Friday, the Karnataka government also sacked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Political Secretary K Govindaraj as well as the state intelligence department chief.