E-Paper
Two women devotees die in Vrindavan; cops deny crowd pressure
The Mathura police denied that the two deaths were due to crowd pressure at the temple. They said the two died at two different spots at different times . However, SSP Mathura Shailesh Pandey appealed to the aged, ill or young to not visit the temple at this time of the year when the footfall increased a lot.
Agra Two women devotees, both above 60 years of age, who reached Vrindavan for ‘darshan’ at Bankey Bhari Temple died on Sunday.One woman was from Sitapur and the other from Jabalpur. They died at two different spots at different times .
The Mathura police denied that the two deaths were due to crowd pressure at the temple. However, SSP Mathura Shailesh Pandey appealed to the aged, ill or young to not visit the temple at this time of the year when the footfall increased a lot.
The turn out in Mathura and Vrindavan rises substantially at the year end. It is expected to rise further on new year as devotees prefer an auspicious beginning of the year.
On Saturday, the number of devotees at Banke Bihari Temple was in lakhs and remained so on Sunday. The passage towards the temple was chock-a-block .
“Police deny that the deaths were an outcome of crowd mismanagement. These two women died at different times at different places which were away from the temple premises,” said Pandey.
The SSP claimed that both women were above 60 years of age and had health issues , according to their family members.
“The cause of deaths was presumably illness. They were shifted to hospital in Vrindavan but could not be saved. The family members have informed that both had history of illness,” he said .
“Öne öf the deceased was from Sitapur who fell while walking at Vidhyapeeth crossing quite far from Banke Bihari Temple . She was shifted to hospital but was declared brought dead by doctors,”he said .
“The other woman was from Jabalpur and was sitting at Jaipuria dharamshala in Vrindavan when the temple was closed on Sunday. She was accompanied by her daughter and fainted when she moved. She was declared dead when taken to hospital in Vrindavan,” he said.
