Vadesamudra bids tearful adieu to 8 victims

Hundreds of grieving residents of Vadesamudra village in the taluk, on Sunday, bid a tearful adieu to eight people, including three schoolchildren, who met a watery grave as a private bus plunged into Visvesvaraya canal on Saturday.

Out of the 30 passengers who were killed in the accident, eight were from Vadesamudra and a mass cremation of the bodies was held at the burial ground of the village.

People of different castes came together to perform the final rites of the deceased. Not only the people of Vadesamudra, but also those from various parts of the taluk participated.

The bodies of Ravi Kumar (12), Prashanth (13), Pavithra (12), Rathnamma, Shashikala, Chikkaiah, Kamalamma and Kariyaiah were cremated simultaneously.

The mortal remains of the deceased were brought to the burial ground in the morning, after performing the rituals at their houses.

Raghu, younger brother of Ravi Kumar, who performed the latter's last rites, said Ravi had told him to come early from school. “So, I reached home early, but ‘Anna’ (brother) never came back home,” Raghu said.

The children’s father Shankar died of cardiac arrest last year and their mother Rani, an Asha worker, was looking after them. Rani, holding her son’s photograph, was inconsolable.

Ravi Kumar was a talented student. He was also a favourite of many of the villagers. "We have lost our village kid," said a villager. The residents were heard blaming the bus driver for negligence.

Pandavapura tahsildar D Hanumantharayappa attended the cremation on behalf of the government. The Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) has announced a compensation of Rs 10,000 each to the families of the 30 victims. The cheques will be distributed to the families in a day, said a spokesperson of SKDRDP.