A woman died and her son was suffocated in a crowd scuffle at a movie theater during the premiere show of actor Allu Arjun’s film “Pushpa 2: The Rule” in Hyderabad on Thursday, December 1. He was admitted to hospital, following which SFI and DYFI workers staged a protest. 5, 2024. | Photo courtesy: PTI
A distraught M. Bhaskar, who lost his wife during the scuffle at Sandhya Theatre, sat holding his head in his hands outside the Gandhi Hospital mortuary on Thursday afternoon, waiting for the body.
Nearly 18 hours after the incident, Bhaskar still has no clear picture of what happened on the premises that led to the death of his wife M. Revathi and his eight-year-old son Sritej being admitted to the critical care unit of a private hospital in Secunderabad. Was admitted. , Bhaskar’s mother, who was sitting with him on the steps outside the mortuary, expressed her disappointment at the gross mismanagement and negligence of both the theater management and the actor.
While narrating his plight, tears welled up in his eyes and his voice broke. His son, who he said was a big fan of Allu Arjun, is now scarred for life. According to Bhaskar, the family met in the theater at around 9.30 pm and started going to the auditorium along with other people. “At this very moment, the actors entered the hall and a large crowd followed them. Seeing this my daughter started crying and I stopped to the left to let them go. I waited for my wife and son to join but they were pushed forward with the crowd,” he recalled.
As she searched for them amid the crowd, her five-year-old daughter became frightened and started crying for her mother. He decided to drop her to a friend’s house, about 500 meters away from the theatre. A few minutes later, he returned with the news that his wife and son were missing.
“I inquired about my wife and son from the police officers deployed at the theatre. They asked me about my son and what he was wearing. As soon as I shared the details, he took out a phone and showed a video of my son being brought out of the theater unconscious. I was told to go to the hospital immediately… I was devastated,” he shared. He said the news of his wife’s demise was shared with him around 2.30 am after his son’s hospital formalities were completed.
The family lodged a formal complaint on Thursday following which the police booked actor Allu Arjun, his personal security staff and the management of Sandhya Theater on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and intentionally causing hurt.
the program must go on
Meanwhile, the day started like normal for the theatre, which did not stop the screening of a single show even after the death of a woman in the cinema hall. Around noon, while the first show was still going on, an eager crowd gathered outside the complex for the second show to be held at 1.50 pm. Life-size posters and cut-outs of actors were shown in the theater, and young crowds were seen booing and taking photographs. He has the lead actor’s mask on his forehead.
rtc
A group of four friends, who identified themselves as the ‘Allu Army’ and had arrived at the theater 70 minutes before the show time and were cheering for the actor in excitement. He was not aware of the incident that happened last night. While the hotels were empty, the parking lots were filled with vehicles of people who had come to watch the movie.
Student union groups, including the Students Federation of India (SFI), were seen marching with their flags and placards demanding immediate action against the incident. Later he was taken into custody by the police.
There was heavy police deployment in the area throughout the day to avoid further problems.
published – December 05, 2024 07:53 PM IST
