India News | Indore Temple Tragedy: Stepwell Was Once Suicide Spot, Claims Resident
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The covered 'bawdi' or stepwell at the centre of the Indore temple tragedy that killed 36 persons was once infamous for being a suicide spot, a resident of the area claimed on Monday.
Indore, Apr 3 (PTI) The covered 'bawdi' or stepwell at the centre of the Indore temple tragedy that killed 36 persons was once infamous for being a suicide spot, a resident of the area claimed on Monday.
Thirty-six persons died on March 30 when the floor of the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple in Patel Nagar, which was built in a public garden by laying a slab to cover the stepwell, collapsed on Ram Navami, hurtling devotees several feet below.
"Five to seven persons used to jump to death into this well every year between 1970 and 1980 (when the stepwell was uncovered) and police used to bother our family to sign the papers as witnesses when the bodies were fished out," claimed Laxmikant Patel, who lost four kin, including his wife and daughter-in-law, in the temple floor cave-in.
Patel, one of the oldest residents of the locality, said he and his kin had been taking care of the ill-fated temple for several years now.
The stepwell was built by the Holkar dynasty here and his family had been living close to it since 1969, he told PTI.
"My family got the stepwell covered with an iron net (grill). However, some people started removing this cover and storing stolen items in it. In 1980, the local administration covered the stepwell with a slab," he said.
After the tragedy on March 30, an FIR was lodged against Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust president Sevaram Galani and secretary Murli Kumar Sabnani under Indian Penal Code Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Juni Indore police station in-charge Neeraj Meda said.
The two have been accused of carrying out unsafe work at the temple by getting the stepwell covered and also ignoring Indore Municipal Corporation directives to remove encroachments and illegal additions to the structure, as per police.
Both are yet to be arrested as Sabnani was injured in the incident and Galani is recuperating from an earlier accident, police said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)