Bengaluru: Eighteen-year-old Narasamma was eagerly awaiting her marriage, fixed to take place ten days later, as she was washed away on Sunday morning in an overflowing storm water drain.
The Krishnappa Garden (C.V. Raman Nagar) resident was on her way to answer nature’s call at 7 am when she slipped and fell into a swollen drain, which was flowing at high speed.
A younger breadwinner in the family of four, Narasamma had been working on daily wages since she dropped out of school to support her family. Her family, originally from Kalaburagi, had moved to the city two decades back.
“Being a strong personality, she used to take care of her family trying to earn more day after day signing up for maximum work for daily wages. The whole family was looking forward with better hopes for her marriage fixed with a native of Raichur which was to take place in ten days,” said her friend and neighbor, after the cremation.
She is survived by father Yenkappa who is partially disabled, mother Kashamma, who works for daily wages, and a younger sister. The family has been battling financial crisis for long, said Hidayathulla, another neighbour. “Even though two members of her family were working, the earnings were not sufficient to even send her eight-year old sibling to school,” he elaborated.
The incident has provoked the residents of the colony to take to the streets demanding a permanent and immediate solution to their problems.
“Basic facilities including toilets, uninterrupted supply of drinking water, and a good sewage system have been absent,” said Chand Pasha, a resident of Krishnappa Garden.
The body of the deceased was recovered almost a kilometre away from the spot after rescue personnel worked for more than four hours. Politicians continued to play the blame game even at the deceased’s residence an hour before cremation, which led to a war of words between BJP and Congress workers when MLA S. Raghu visited them.
Mayor Sampath Raj paid a visit to the area. He, however, said that the death is not linked to rain and she had slipped into the drain.
However, a compensation of Rs5 lakh has been announced on humanitarian grounds to the family of the deceased.
