LUCKNOW: Donning new clothes and brimming with excitement, five-year-old Shraddha considered herself lucky when she got a place in the overcrowded pandal to closely watch the pujari perform rituals welcoming the bridegroom at the wedding ceremony of Jagdish Yadav’s daughter in Nurdi Kheda village of Bijnor on Thursday night.
She, along with many others, were watching the ritual from the newly-constructed terrace just above the ritual site. The groom was about to step on the mat, when with a loud thud, the terrace came crashing down, crushing Shradha and Ram Kishan Tiwari, the pujari, to death.
Though the groom had a narrow escape, the accident left 30 others injured, including three who are still critical. While the injured were rushed to the hospital by locals and police, the wedding was later carried out by calling another priest. With heavy hearts, villagers participated in the event.
Shradha’s parents Motilal and Sheela said, “We never imagined that we will face this day, the last time we saw our daughter smiling was when she was donning a red ‘lehnga’ but today we saw her blank face in a white shroud lying on the cot.”
An eerie silence prevailed as locals extended their support to the victim’s family and gave them space to accommodate guests in their house.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Zone, Aparna Rajat Kaushik, told TOI preliminary probe shows that the roof could not withstand the pressure of people gathered to watch the ceremony .
