Two trampled to death during stampede for Ramadan charity

Two women were trampled to death while twelve others suffered injuries during a stampede outside the residence of a rich mine owner in Bellary in Karnataka, who was distributing food grains and clothes as charity during the holy month of Ramadan.

Police identified the deceased as Shyamala, 25, and Noor Jahaan, 60, both of whom are residents of Bellary. The injured persons have been admitted to Vijaynagar Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment.

Superintendent of Bellary district Police Seemanth Kumar Singh said the stampede occurred on Sunday when hundreds of people from Bellary and nearby villages gathered in front of the residence of Iqbal Ahmed, a mine owner, who regularly doles out food grains, clothes and even cash to the poor people as part of Ramadan.

As soon as the gates of Iqbal Ahmed’s house were opened around noon, the restive crowd estimated to be more than 5,000 people began pushing and shoving each other to gain entry into the house. As people tried to rush inside, many women and older men were thrown down, leading to the stampede.

Though security had been provided for the event, the team of policemen led by a sub inspector of police proved to be inadequate to control the crowd and bring the situation under control.

“We will find out the exact reason for the tragedy. Prima facie it looks like there was a delay on the part of the organizers to open the gates early and the heavy rush of people resulted in the stampede”, Seemanth Kumar Singh said.

Iqbal Ahmed said his family used to distribute charity every year during Ramadan and never before had such an incident taken place. “This year also, we took all security measures properly. What happened is very unfortunate”, he said.
Meanwhile, Cowl Bazaar police station in Bellary has registered a case against Iqbal Ahmed’s family for “negligence”.