Lives cut short in CUSAT stampede: Three bright students and a young job-seeker with big plans

Other than the four deaths, 64 people were injured in the incident. Of the injured, 34 are still in hospital, with two of them on life support.

Tearful farewell

On Sunday, CUSAT bid a tearful farewell to the three students, whose bodies were laid at the campus for public homage. People’s representatives, CUSAT faculty members and hundreds of students lined past the bodies of the students. Later, the families took the bodies home.

Engineering student Ann Riftha, 21, a native of Chendamangalam in Ernakulam district, was among those who died on Saturday. She was an upcoming performer of Chavittu Nadakam, a traditional musical dance drama art form popular among the Latin Catholic community in the coastal region of Kerala. She belonged to a family of Chavittu Nadakam artistes, with her father, Roy Georgekutty, a trainer in the art form.

“The family was passionate about Chavittu Nadakam. Ann had started performing from childhood, and in her first performance, she played an angel,” family friend Shaiby Thomas said.

Ann’s father also worked as a mason, and her mother, Sindhu, has been working as a home nurse in Italy for the last one year. Rithul, Ann’s brother, was studying hotel management.

“The mother went to Italy to make money for her daughter’s education. She came to know about the incident through the news, but had not initially realised Ann was also a victim. She is expected to reach Kochi on Tuesday, and the funeral will be held after that,” Shaiby said.

Another victim of the stampede was Athul Thambi, 24, from Koothattukulam in Ernakulam. He was the son of farm labourer Kochuparayil Thambi.

Described as a brilliant student, Athul had previously been forced to abandon his studies due to the family’s financial crisis. He then got training from a polytechnic and started working as a supervisor. Later, he was able to quit his job and join CUSAT to study engineering.

“Every weekend, he used to come home. But yesterday (Saturday), he informed his mother, Lilly, in the evening that he would be staying back at CUSAT campus this weekend,” said Koothattukulam municipal councillor Sunny Kuriakose.

He has an elder brother Ajin, who is an engineer, Kuriakose said.

At Thamarassery in Kozhikode, the Thuvakkunnil family was mourning the death of Sara Thomas, 20, another engineering student. Her father, Scaria Thomas, had been bitten by a snake a few months ago and had a long battle for his life, from which he only recently emerged.

“Sara, a brilliant student, had got admission at other engineering colleges in Kerala. But the profile of CUSAT as a prestigious institution, and the fact that one of her relatives worked at the university, made the family choose that institute. Scaria Thomas is yet to recover fully from the health problems related to the snake bite. For several months since the snake bite last December, he fought for his life at hospital and later at home,’’ said their neighbour and CPI(M) worker Shamsudheen.

Thomas, who had worked in the Gulf, had returned home a few years ago and was living with his family in a rented house. His wife, Kochurani, is a homemaker. They have two other daughters – the eldest is married and the youngest is a higher secondary student.

The fourth victim of the tragedy, 23-year-old Alwin Joseph, was not a student. He was an electrician from Mundur in Palakkad, and had been staying in Kochi while looking for job opportunities. His father, Joseph, is a farm worker. Alwin’s plan was to eventually find a job and settle abroad.

On Saturday, Alwin is thought to have gone to CUSAT for the music show. When his father saw the news of the stampede on TV, he called Alwin’s phone, but got no answer, said Mundur panchayat member K T Sabjalatha.

“Later in the night, when they repeatedly called, someone picked up saying that they got the handset abandoned at the CUSAT venue. Soon, the tragedy was confirmed,” she said.

‘Delay in opening gate’

CUSAT Vice-Chancellor P G Sankaran said there were two factors that contributed to the stampede that took place after rain started pouring down.

“There was a delay in opening the only gate to the auditorium. Hence, when students crowded at the only gate, it had to be opened all of a sudden. Besides, the stairs down to the amphitheatre are very steep,” he said.

State Higher Education Minister R Bindu, who visited the university, told the media that her department would conduct a high-level probe into the tragedy. “The CUSAT VC and the principal secretary of the higher education department were told to submit reports,” she said.

Industries Minister P Rajeeve, who is also the MLA from Kalamassery where CUSAT is located, said after last month’s blast at a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention, the government had given directions to all auditoriums on the precautions to be taken. However, the directive had not included the campuses, he said.