Kin of deceased students demand for justice

Bachupally: It's been five years since 24 students of VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology washed away in the turbulent Beas River in Himachal Pradesh, while on an industrial tour. But, the pain of the parents lingers, as they meet every year without fail on the fateful day. The mishap happened on June 8, 2014.

• The parents allege that the authorities opened the water gates without any siren; they demand the officials responsible to be punished

This year too, parents met near the college to show their solidarity to each other. The college offered Rs 2 lakh compensation, but the parents refused. They say that they want action to be taken against people responsible for the incident.

The parents allege that the authorities without any siren opened the gates, leaving the students stranded. There are two pending cases in the Supreme Court and a criminal case in Mandi District Court," says A Radha Krishna, the father of Lakshmi Gayathri.

"It is the news that we could not digest even after five years. We cry almost every single day. Sometimes, we even forget that they are not with us and call them," says A Padma, the mother of A Vijetha.

"They were about to graduate in two years, but the incident totally ruined our lives," says Robin Bose, the father of Debashih Bose. "After five years of the incident also, the situation we are facing from day one to this day is the same. The pain of their demise never comes down.

They come to our minds in every situation. We plan a memorial meeting every year just to remember the incident and to share our pain," says K Krishna Reddy, the father of Rishitha.

"We conducted a memorial meeting after five years near their college. We thought it is the perfect place to spend some time. There is not even a single day that went by without thinking about them. Every day and every moment we think that they are with us," says KRKV Prasad, the father of Sriharsha.

"Last year, on the date of the incident, we went to Himachal Pradesh, where the tragedy occurred. In the past four years, we have never seen any of the faculty from the college attending the memorial meeting, but this year, some faculty of college attended," says Srinivas, the father of Rithima.