‘Will go home only after seeing Vijay’: Karur stampede victim told father before death
Dharanika, 14, and her mother, Priyadarshini, 35, who had gone to catch a glimpse of Vijay, but got crushed in the crowd instead, leave behind a shattered family and unanswered questions
Priyadarshini and her teenage daughter Dharanika set out to catch a glimpse of their beloved Vijay in Karur. Hours later, both lost their lives in the stampede that shook Tamil Nadu. Their last voice messages now stand as painful reminders of how quickly joy turned into tragedy.
Last message
“There is no mobile signal here,” Priyadarshini told her husband in a voice message. In another, she explained how crowded the venue was and asked him to take care of himself. But her daughter insisted: “We are still in the crowd. Vijay hasn’t come yet. We’ll leave only after seeing him.”
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They never imagined these would be their last words. By evening, Priyadarshini and Dharanika were gone, crushed in the stampede.
'Found wife, daughter in mortuary'
Priyadarshini’s husband, Sakthivel, recalls the night that changed his life forever.
“My wife even sent me a voice message asking me to go home, saying they’d come back later. I called again after a short while, but this time a policewoman answered. She told me to check the hospital. At the mortuary, I first found my daughter. After an hour of searching, I found my wife too. I lost both my wife and daughter,” he said.
For the family, the grief is unbearable. Dharanika, a 14-year-old Class 9 student, loved her cycle, her soft toys, and her pet dog. Priyadarshini, just 35, kept her home neat, loved sarees, and was deeply loved by her husband. Now, both lives have been cut short.
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A shattered mother
Back at the family’s home, Priyadarshini’s mother, Maragatham, is inconsolable.
“I came to know (about the incident) only after 9.30 pm. I had seen the news around 6.30 pm. The police were resorting to a lathi charge, the crowds pushed through temporary sheets, and that’s when the stampede began. Later, when I watched again, I saw the stampede happening. But I never thought my own daughter would be among the dead,” she said.
Even in her grief, Maragatham demands accountability. “Lives should not be lost like this ever again. It feels like a conspiracy. The press should tell this to everyone,” she said.
Empty home, unanswered questions
Two lives are gone. A father is left alone, a grandmother is torn apart, and a community is still searching for answers. For those left behind, no explanation will ever be enough.
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All that remains now is silence — and the haunting emptiness of a home where laughter once lived.
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