Orphaned by Chevella Bus Crash, Girls Unable to Speak
Their two daughters, aged fifteen and nine, have been in shock and are staying with their grandmothers in Tandur, near Chevella, who are trying to care for them while grieving their own loss.
Hyderabad:The deaths of K. Bandappa and K. Lakshmi in the Chevella bus accident have left a silence that their family is struggling to fill. Their two daughters, aged fifteen and nine, have been in shock and are staying with their grandmothers in Tandur, near Chevella, who are trying to care for them while grieving their own loss.
K. Ayyappa, Bandappa’s brother, said the girls remain unwell and silent. “They are still not speaking properly. The younger one keeps asking for her mother,” he said. He added that their grandmother, old and frail, is finding it hard to manage both her grief and the children’s care.
“They have lost everything,” Ayyappa said. “We just want them to have a chance. The government promised some aid, but nothing has come yet. They need help to study and find their feet again.”
Bandappa and Lakshmi were travelling on the RTC bus from Tandur to Hyderabad when it collided with a gravel-laden tipper truck near Mirzaguda on November 3. Both died instantly. Their daughters, who were not on the bus, learned of the accident through relatives. The news spread quickly through Hajipur, where neighbours remember the couple as quiet, hardworking people who left early each day for work and rarely complained about anything.
Several families in the region were affected by the crash, which killed at least nineteen people and injured many others. The truck was reportedly overloaded, and the collision caused the gravel to spill into the bus, trapping passengers. The government announced compensation, but relatives of victims like Ayyappa say the process has been slow.
Local residents have continued to demand safer roads and stricter checks on heavy vehicles. For the family in Hajipur, those discussions feel far removed from their immediate reality. The focus now is on keeping the girls in school and finding some stability after losing both parents overnight.
“I am requesting the government to help them. I will especially speak with the district collector about this,” said Ayappa, adding, “They should be admitted to one of our Minority Residential Schools or any other residential school and given the opportunity to study. I request the government to provide them with a good future.”