Bellary (Karnataka): The bodies of nine, who died in a road accident near Kuruburu at T Naraseepur taluk in the Mysore district of Karnataka on Monday were cremated at their village on Tuesday. The last rites were performed as per the 'Veerashaiva' tradition wherein pits were dug in a row and the bodies were buried.
The deceased were from Sanganakallu village under Bellary taluk of the state. The mass burial took place on Veerashaiva Rudrabhoomi land of the village. Sandeep (24), his father Kotresh (45), mother Sujatha (40); Manjunath (35), wife Purnima (30), sons Karthik (8) and Pawan (10) of another family died in the horrific accident and Gayathri (35) and daughter Shravya (3), too, died in the mishap. The dead bodies were brought from Mysore in four ambulances.
For a brief period, the bodies were kept at their houses so that people could pay their last respects to the departed souls. At around noon, the bodies were taken to the nearby Veerashaiva Rudrabhoomi in the same ambulances where the mass cremation was conducted. Former minister B Sriramulu, minister B Nagendra's brother B Venkatesh Prasad, District Collector Pawan Kumar Malapati, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Mohammad Zubera, district health officer (DHO) HL Janardhana and many others were present on the occasion. The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs each to the next of kin of the deceased. The Central government has also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs.