‘The god took away my son’: Indians grieve after deadly stampede

KASGANJ, India (AFP) — Hindu preacher Bhole Baba promised to improve the lives of poor Indian families struggling to get by.

Instead, the guru's latest rally in northern Uttar Pradesh state, which drew a 250,000-strong crowd of devotees on Tuesday, ended in death.

At least 121 people were killed in a stampede, many crushed, trampled or suffocated, in India's worst such tragedy in more than a decade.

"I thought that attending would improve my husband's situation and our life would become better," said 30-year-old Sudha, a devotee who attended the gathering.

She said the preacher had offered "peace and hope."

Sudha, who uses only one name, said she was attracted after hearing the positive changes he had made to other women who had attended his services.

"Husbands of women who attended stopped abusing them," she said, from the village of Northa. "They cut alcohol consumption and improved overall."

She took her youngest son Yuvansh, age 4, with her to the gathering.

The boy died under a pile of bodies after organizers lost control of the vastly overcrowded site.

A police report said more than 250,000 people attended the event in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state, more than triple the 80,000 for whom organizers had permission.

"Instead of improving life, the god took away my son," Sudha told AFP, referring to the preacher.

She rocked as she sobbed, then screamed out in grief and pain.

‘Biggest mistake’

The inconsolable mother said following the enigmatic religious guru was her "biggest mistake."

A portrait of the preacher still hung above her on the wall of her home.

Baba was little known elsewhere in India before the horrific crush but had cultivated a mass following among the poor and socially disenfranchised in Uttar Pradesh.

Religious gurus promising the world are common in India and are followed by millions hoping for miracles.

Almost all the devotees killed on Tuesday were women who came believing Baba, a former police constable, could help, said Sudha.

She walked, took a train and then hitch-hiked to see him speak, some 50 miles from her home.

Sudha was back in her rundown village of narrow streets and overflowing drains without her son on Wednesday, surrounded by women supporting her as she grieved.

‘Charlatans’

The family of Mira Devi, in the nearby village of Gohra, were also mourning. The 55-year-old was one of five in her family who went to see Baba.

They returned on Wednesday carrying her corpse for cremation. 

"Everyone was falling like mattresses," said her daughter-in-law Kamini, age 28. "I won't be able to ever attend any such huge gatherings again."

She said she heard about Baba's preaching from social media and enjoyed his life lessons, catchy quotes and promises for a better future.

Rinki, her 25-year-old sister, said they decided to go "after some problems at our home."

"We thought it'd help us, like it has helped many others," she said.

Rinki was crushed under dying bodies with her daughter but clutched onto her with a vice-like grip.

They managed to claw their way out to fresh air.

"I just held on to her arm tightly," Rinki said.

Baba vanished after the gathering and police want to question him.

Om Vati, 40, of Northa village, said the stampede should alert people to the type of man Baba is.

"The government must stop these charlatans," Vati said. "Dozens of households have been ruined and mothers are crying because of them."

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By BHUVAN BAGGA Agence France-Presse

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