From Godman to murderer: Year on, families of Hathras victims can’t get over tragic day
Hathras: One year after a stampede at a massive religious gathering in Hathras town of western Uttar Pradesh claimed 121 lives and left over 250 injured, survivors and bereaved families continue to mourn—not just for those they lost, but for the faith they once held dear.
The tragedy struck during a congregation of self-styled spiritual leader ‘Bhole Baba’—a godman once worshipped in countless homes across the region. But for those who saw their families crushed under the weight of the fleeing crowd, Bhole Baba is no longer divine.
“He is no God. If he had any power, he would have saved them,” says Dinesh Sharma, a vegetable vendor who lost his wife Kalpana and 16-year-old daughter Nandini in the chaos. Once a follower of the Baba, Dinesh now refuses to even utter his name. A small grocery stall in his living room brings in Rs 70 to Rs 120 a day—barely enough to care for his three young sons, now orphaned of maternal warmth. “We used to worship him. His picture was on our altar. Now it lies in the gutter.”
A few lanes away in the same village, 10-year-old Mohit watches silently as his mother, Rukmini, tends to a patch of farmland they do not own. His grandmother, Vimla Devi, was among the victims that day. Four months later, tragedy returned when Mohit’s father, Anand, died of dengue. “We are alive because we have to be,” Rukmini says. “I earn Rs 200 a day doing others’ work. The gods left us that day, and so did humanity.”
In Gulari Basti, another locality within the city limits, 60-year-old Sarla Devi was crushed to death in the stampede. Her son Rajiv Thakur recalls how she had only joined the satsang at the insistence of neighbours. “She was not even a follower,” he says, his voice trembling. “We never believed in him, and now we never will.”
The government offered compensation—Rs 4 lakh for the deceased—but Rajiv’s family, like many others, had to divide the amount among multiple siblings. “A lakh rupees cannoot fill the vacuum of a mother,” he says.
In the same neighborhood, 58-year-old health worker Kamla Mishra also died in the stampede. Her daughter-in-law, Neelam, had pleaded with her to stay home. “She believed in that baba. She kept his portrait next to the gods in our puja room. After her death, we threw it in the garbage,” Neelam says bluntly. “Anyone who let that happen is no saint.”
Yet, a few households—like that of Ram Bhagat in Sohra village—still refuse to blame Bhole Baba. His brother died in the stampede, but the family continues to attend the godman’s gatherings. “Faith is above death,” Ram says quietly, though his words are met with silence from the rest of the grieving village.
