Death of young nursing student in Andhra Pradesh temple stampede shatters father

Berhampur: Rangala Dillesu was stunned and inconsolable when his 21-year-old daughter’s body arrived at their Gudipadar village in Ganjam district’s Patrapur block on Saturday evening.

His daughter, R Roopa, was among the nine killed in the stampede at the privately run Ventakeswara Swamy temple at Kasibugga in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district.“She has left me alone. Now who will take care of me?” asked Dillesu, 58, a farmer. His wife died about two years ago due to some ailments. “I had a dream that she will become a nursing officer and serve the people. All my dreams have been shattered,” he said.Amid a pall of gloom, Roopa’s last rites were conducted at the village cremation ground on Sunday morning.Roopa, who studied BSc (Nursing) in Srikakulam, had come home to take care of her father, who was ill for the past few days. She and another woman of Gudipadar went to the temple in Kasibugga, about 35 km away, for darshan on the occasion of Karthika Ekadashi on Saturday.“The woman who accompanied Roopa was injured,” said Y Mohan Rao, former sarpanch of Gudipadar.“Roopa was liked by everyone. She was a good student and wanted to become a nursing officer. We all are shocked by her sudden death,” said Y Sanjukta, chairperson of Patrapur block and a resident of Gudipadar.