Hathras: At Hathras’ Bagla Hospital, the bodies of those who died in Tuesday’s stampede are lined up on ice slabs. The staff work quickly as they send the remains in ambulances for post-mortem.
The hospital is teeming with people, mostly families searching for their loved ones, frantically reaching out to police and doctors for any information.
Kamlesh is sitting outside, crying uncontrollably. She attended the satsang with her daughter, who was attending for the first time. The 17-year-old was killed in the stampede.
The two had left their village in a vehicle to see ‘Baba Ji’. When they reached the venue, Kamlesh’s daughter got out before her, and they got separated.
“After the stampede, we searched for her everywhere but couldn’t find her. When we came to the hospital, we found her body here,” says Kamlesh.
At least 116 people, mostly women and including children, lost their lives in Tuesday’s stampede at the satsang hosted by self-styled preacher Narayan Sakar Hari aka Bhole Baba in Fulrai village. Several others were injured.
An FIR was registered late Tuesday at the Sikandra Rao police station under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (homicide), 126(2) (wrongfully restraining any person), 223 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant), and 238 (knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, against sevadar Dev Madhukar and other unidentified organisers. A police search operation is underway for Bhole Baba in Mainpuri.
The FIR states that the organisers sought permission for a crowd of 80,000, concealing the fact that past events had drawn lakhs of people. On Tuesday, around 2,50,000 devotees from various districts and neighbouring states had gathered.
Stampede survivors ThePrint spoke to said Bhole Baba has been very active in the area for nearly two decades. He holds satsangs at different places every month, and people come from far-off to attend.
At Bagla Hospital’s PM Cares ward, nine satsang attendees are undergoing treatment. Among them is 40-year-old Sunita, who belongs to the Jatav community. She hails from Amausi village, from where three vehicles packed with people left for the satsang. Each vehicle carried around 9 passengers.
However, people are unable to explain what exactly caused the stampede.
Sunita has been following Bhole Baba for the past nine years. “I was told by women in my neighbourhood that Baba resolves everyone’s troubles. He says positive things and everyone should follow him,” she tells ThePrint.
Last month, she was sent a WhatsApp video about the two-day satsang. Nine women from her family attended. After Bhole Baba finished his sermon and left, Sunita saw people rushing in panic.
“A crowd pushed me and I fell down. People were running helplessly. Some people were climbing over me. Because of this, I started feeling suffocated and lost consciousness,” Sunita recalls.
It was Sunita’s sister-in-law who spotted her being crushed by the crowds, after which she was pulled out.
Sunita, who earns Rs 200-300 per day as a farm hand, recalls that during his hour-long sermon Tuesday, Bhole Baba had emphasised that one must not lie, must live in harmony with others, and avoid violence. She had first listened to the preacher’s sermon in Sasni. After that, she would go to Patiyali every month to listen to him. Bhole Baba, also known as Suraj Pal, is from Bahadur Nagar village in Kasganj district’s Patiyali tehsil.
Sitting nearby, Sunita’s brother Anil fumes and asks, “If Baba has powers, why didn’t he use them to stop the stampede?” Around 32 stampede victims’ bodies have been brought to this hospital. Most of them were elderly women.
Fifty-year-old Savitri, who was injured in the incident, says she came with eight family members to catch a glimpse of Bhole Baba. The doctor informs her that she has injuries on her chest. Savitri says her sister-in-law died in the stampede.
“We didn’t know something like this would happen. It has never happened before. There was police presence there too, but the crowd was overwhelming. The ground was wet due to rain, causing people to slip,” says Savitri.
A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said around 38 bodies have been sent to the district hospital in Aligarh, due to limited resources and space.
A senior Bagla Hospital official said: “In the hospital, a total of 9 injured individuals have been admitted, all of whom are women. They have suffered minor injuries. After examination on Wednesday, they will be discharged.”
Also Read: ‘They just dropped dead’—UP home guard who saw 3 colleagues die can’t forget those 20 mins
Anger against Baba
Following the stampede, anger against Bhole Baba is brewing in Hathras. Many are upset that the police have not yet arrested him.
“This country should operate not on blind faith but on the Constitution. Today, a Baba has taken the lives of so many people. PM Modi should take strict action against such fraudulent Babas,” says Ramu Kushwaha, president of a local organisation called the Akhil Bhartiya Pushp Mahasabha.
Arvind, 30, says when the police need to take action against anyone who is poor, they do so immediately but have done nothing against fraudulent preachers, whose actions have cost lives.
“Why do authorities permit events like satsangs? Doesn’t the administration realise these are fraudulent Babas? Today’s incident happened because of them. We should call this murder,” he adds.
Arvind further says he brought four bodies to the district hospital in an ambulance from Sikandra Rao Hospital. Bodies were being taken to district hospitals in Aligarh, Agra, and Etah, as far as 30-40 kilometres away from Fulrai village, where the stampede happened.
“Sending a patient 40 kilometres for treatment would lead to their death on the way,” he adds.
At another Hathras hospital, Kumari Rekha Devi (32) is tearfully searching for her mother. She believes Bhole Baba is not to blame, as he did not encourage anyone to rush. Devi says people from Bihar and Uttarakhand also came to hear him.
“I have experienced that whenever I face any problems, it gets resolved by drinking the water given by Bhole Baba. I will go to his satsang again. Those who have died had to die anyway. It’s fate,” she says.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: Trials, threats, trauma—one man’s 10-yr battle against POCSO-convicted godman Asaram Bapu