Priya Gowda death: It was no accident, it was murder

While the city is shell-shocked with the untimely death of 13-year old Priya yesterday, what makes the incident even more disturbing is the fact that there were by-standers focussing their cameras on the girl and not helping others take her to the hospital.

Some would argue that the pictures were essential to show the gravity of the situation and the injuries that the teen succumbed to. But, wasn't it important to take a live video of the slide she was playing on and how the rod dismantled. There could have been videos to show how the BBMP failed to put up a notice board outside the park premises that children should stay away from it.

However, no such video appeared online, thus strengthening the BBMP's argument (if at all it chooses to argue) that it was the girl's or the parent's mistake. What is thought provoking is the fact that she was not alone in the park and there were many other children playing there, which proves that not all of them could have been mistaken. 

The people's apathy

It is a norm these days in India when we are quick to blame the authorities for their negligence and lack of attention. But where do we stand as human beings ourselves? According to a Bangalore Mirror report, the girl lay there bleeding for 30 minutes when the video was taken, but no one came forward to help. Apparently, the eyewitnesses were waiting for the ambulance, which could be a separate topic of discussion. This was the case, until a passer by Rakesh B, took her to the hospital on his Honda Dio. 

He said, "It had already been 30 minutes since the fall. The girl was bleeding and some people were clicking photos. The ambulance men told us they were still at Ulsoor so we thought it better to take the girl to a hospital on a bike. We took her to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital but the doctor told us she was no more.”

Another eyewitness paints a rather gory picture of how people reacted initially. “It was around 4:50 pm, two girls were screaming for help and I could see one girl bleeding heavily and lying on ground inside the park. I immediately stopped my vehicle and went inside park. Her head was injured and I could not make her drink water as she was bleeding from her mouth too. When I looked around I saw many people had gathered and some were busy taking pictures and videos of the incident."

While this is just one argument, the larger discussion still surrounds on the silence of BBMP. What makes it worse is the police statement, which according to Nandeesh Reddy, ex-MLA of KR Puram assembly constituency, said, "the girl had entered the park forcefully". If that is not enough to show how authorities have distanced themselves from the distanced themselves from the incident, consider the case of a six-year-old boy who died in Lalbagh in December 2016 after a bird bath made of stone fell on him in the Bonsai Garden. The Horticulture Department was blamed for the incident. BBMP or the Horticulture department, the question that needs to be answered immediately is how safe are the kids in the city even in a playground. Or does it all boil down to destiny or fate?

All said and done, till now, circumstantial evidence points out the BBMP negligence or as the eyewitnesses say, "It is a clear case of negligence on part of BBMP. They have kept playing equipment in the park while a few are being fixed. How would children know about the condition of the equipment, if there is no notice board." Even though, the police continues to brush the incident aside saying, "A lot of play equipment are being kept in the park and the work on fixing them was underway. We have registered a complaint. It is too early to comment. Only after the completion of the investigation we can say who is at fault."
 

• karnataka
• south