Karur stampede: Week after tragedy, victims' kin pick up pieces, but struggle to move on

TIRUCHY: The Rockfort City, considered a sentimental place for politicians to start their maiden poll campaign, has turned out to be a twist in the tale for Vijay and his one-year-old TVK venture.

It started well for the actor-politician, making waves with his 5-hour-long journey from Tiruchy airport to the maiden campaign venue in the city, leading to comparisons with MGR. However, Vijay has faltered in his political journey 80-odd km away in Karur, owing to not just the stampede tragedy that claimed the lives of 41, including 18 women and 10 children, but also due to how the party and its leaders, including its president, responded post-crisis.

Amid charges, counter-charges, and conspiracy theories, Vijay will find it tough to escape scrutiny over how he boarded his chartered flight at 8.45 am at Chennai airport, despite being supposed to address supporters at Namakkal by 8.30 am. Did Vijay purposefully delay the start of his campaign to give enough time for the crowd to build up? If so, can it be construed as a ‘conspiracy’ behind the unmanageable crowd, making him responsible for the stampede? Only time will tell how this fact will be perceived, especially in the people’s courts, not just in the judicial chambers, and also how this stampede is going to pan out for Vijay’s political venture. But the tragic tales of survivors and kin of the dead tell a grim story that none can digest easily.

People who were trampled upon or those who saw others being trampled in the stampede at Velusamy Puram in Karur recall that the tragedy might have been averted if the actor had reached the spot on time, at 12 noon, as scheduled. However, Vijay was much delayed even for his Namakkal campaign, which was planned after the Karur meeting. The TVK chief reached Tiruchy airport only by 9.30 am, from where he arrived at the Namakkal spot at 2.35 pm, leading to a 6-hour delay. He left for Karur at 2.55 pm.

Locals said that the distance between Namakkal and Karur was just 34 km, and it might take only about an hour to reach the campaign spot. But actor Vijay took around five hours to reach the place. Vijay stopped at several locations to accept the reception of the cadre as well as the fans. Eyewitnesses added that hundreds of cadre from Namakkal were recklessly following the actor, trying to take a selfie with the actor while on the move. He was stopped at Paramathi Velur by a large number of fans waiting along the road and asked to show his face to them. When the TVK chief stopped at Aravakurichi, supporters converged at Velusamy Puram, exceeding the expected 10,000, as reported by TVK functionaries in the application for police permission. The actual schedule at Karur was 12 noon, but Vijay reached the spot at 7.10 pm, resulting in a 7-hour delay. Frenzied fans tried to catch a glimpse of their star.

Out of the total deceased, four were between the age group of 51 and 60 who were neither TVK cadre nor the fans of Vijay. They were convinced to join the rally by their loved ones. Some young women took them as an escort, fearing the big crowd. The tale of Arukkani (60) is tragic because she never attended any political meetings, but was taken to guard the girls.

Her husband, Kaliappan (68), from Emur village, told DT Next that people from political parties used to invite her to party events, but she never attended. “On September 27, the girls from the village forcibly took her to Vijay’s event only to get her killed,” Kaliappan said.

Arukkani is not a fan of Vijay nor a TVK cadre, but went to take care of girls from the village, he said. “When I contacted her on the fateful night, her phone was switched off. Around 8.30 pm, I received a call stating that Arukkani was no more,” Kaliappan said.

In the case of S Jaya (55), from Vengamedu in Karur, it was her son’s love for Vijay that led to her death. She was taken to the campaign spot by her son, S Murugan (37), who is a die-hard fan of Vijay. “Murugan took his mother to the venue around 12 noon. She died on the spot in the stampede. She was found with broken chest bones. Murugan sustained similar injuries. His ribs were broken, and he was referred to Madurai GH, where he underwent two surgeries and is recovering,” said Tamil Selvan, a relative who takes care of Murugan.

Murugan told DT Next that he had made his life’s biggest mistake in taking his mother, who was hesitant to go to the event. “She kept on refusing to come to the venue. I forcibly took her to the event. Her death was intimated to me only after I was shifted to the normal ward. It was I who killed my her,” says an inconsolable Murugan.

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