KRISHNAGIRI: It’s not often that a passenger on a running bus passes away midway without the knowledge of fellow commuters. But when the death was finally noticed, one would have expected some sensitivity in handling the situation. However, sheer insensitivity was on display on Wednesday when the conductor forced the dead man’s friend to disembark immediately with the corpse in the middle of nowhere.
K Radha Krishnan (43) and U Veeran (54), both daily wagers, boarded a government bus in the afternoon in Bengaluru and paid Rs 150 each for tickets for Tiruvannamalai. Both hail from Tirukovilur. Since Veeran was ill, he stretched himself on a seat and dozed off. After the bus crossed Hosur, the conductor asked Radha Krishnan to wake up his friend as the bus was getting crowded. Radha Krishnan tried, but found Veeran dead. When Radha Krishnan broke the news, the conductor asked him to get down and take the corpse along. After much haggling, the conductor refunded Rs 150 and dropped them at Shoolagiri, about 23 km from Hosur.
Local journalists noticed Radha Krishnan’s plight and informed the Shoolagiri police, which arranged for an ambulance for Rs 9,000.