Fulrai Mugalgadi, India — A religious gathering in Fulrai Mugalgadi village took a grim turn on July 2, when a stampede at a spiritual event led by Baba Bhole left several elderly women dead, with scores injured. Police say these casualties occurred amidst chaos and a lack of timely assistance from event volunteers.
Hosted in the rural heart of India, this satsurya drew over a quarter of a million devotees, predominantly women, who came to hear the revered Baba Bhole speak. The pandal, or temporary tent, erected for this occasion was packed, with most attendees positioned unfavorably far from the stage.
Trouble began late in the afternoon as the congregation started to disperse. Senior attendees, in particular, found themselves caught in a surging crowd moving towards the adjacent highway. Overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and the relentless heat, some started suffocating and looked to volunteers for help.
Eyewitnesses, now recovering in local hospitals, shared harrowing tales with the authorities. According to police reports, instead of providing physical support or medical aid, the volunteers, known as sevadars, simply encouraged the distressed to chant religious hymns, insisting divine intervention from Baba Bhole would alleviate their suffering.
One eyewitness, a woman named Gomti from Jharkhand, reported that she felt suffocated due to her pre-existing respiratory conditions and sought assistance from nearby volunteers. Despite her pleas, she was merely instructed to chant for relief and eventually lost consciousness. She was later helped by fellow villagers rather than event staff.
Similar stories emerged from other attendees, including a 60-year-old diabetic who was told that chanting would give her the strength to withstand the crush of the crowd. In another instance, sevadars reportedly used physical force to manage the crowd and denied water to those visibly in distress.
Following the disaster, police detained six volunteers involved in the management of the gathering. During questioning, they confessed that the event was poorly equipped to handle such a massive turnout and chaos escalated rapidly when Baba Bhole’s convoy began to depart the venue.
Local law enforcement also uncovered that in the aftermath, several volunteers attempted to suppress evidence of the mishandled situation by confiscating and discarding bystanders’ mobile phones, which recorded the chaos. They cited orders from higher authorities that forbade unauthorized filming.
Inspector General Shalabh Mathur stated that the arrested individuals acknowledged their failure to control the crowd and fled the scene using local transportation. They remained in hiding until their recent capture by police, prompted by the rising death toll now evident in the disaster’s wake.
This incident has sparked a broader discussion regarding safety measures at large religious gatherings in India, which frequently draw tens of thousands of devotees and are often held in areas ill-equipped for such massive crowds. Officials are now calling for stricter regulations and better planning to prevent future tragedies.