TUMAKURU: Like any other young woman, 19-year-old G Parvathi was looking forward to a blissful life ahead after her wedding with L V Venkatesh (24) in May 2016. But fate dealt her a cruel blow when Venkatesh, hailing from a remote village about 73 km from here, died in an accident at a sewage treatment plant at RNS Shantinivas, Yelahanka, in Bengaluru on October 18, 2016.
Parvathi was three months pregnant then. Today, the lives of the members of both families are in tatters.
Back at her paternal home, Parvathi is a picture of hopelessness. Her father Govindaraju, who works as a stone cutter, is distraught too as he has to support the family with his meager earnings.
Govindaraju and his wife Gurushanthamma, both illiterates, have three other daughters younger to Parvathi. The family has to provide for their education and also prepare for their marriages. Parvathi’s two sisters are studying in Class 8 and Class 9 at Neelakantapura village while another is studying PUC I at Madakshira town in Andhra Pradesh.
“We were expecting a compensation of over Rs 20 lakh. But the contractor Mohan Ramakrishna, through a mediator Krishnamurthy K S, paid us Rs 9.5 lakh. This was shared with Parvathi’s in-laws and we are left with very little money,” Govindaraju rued.
In October last year, the Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner had sanctioned Rs 4,12,500 from the Social Welfare Department as the deceased hailed from the Scheduled Caste Bhovi community.
‘Grandchild is our hope now’
“My brother was excited that he would become a father soon. We were close and lived together in a rented house on Hesarghatta Road. We want justice for him,” says Venkatesh’s younger brother L V Srinivas.
Srinivas had dropped out after clearing PUC II Commerce exams to take up work and help the family make ends meet. “It was my brother who encouraged me to complete my Diploma in Electronics and Communication,” he recalled. “Our older sister died long time back. Now I am forced to live in the village looking after my parents”, he said.
Regarding sharing of the compensation paid by the contractor, Srinivas said Parvathi’s family had agreed to it and they needed the money to clear the loans raised for the wedding.
The family has three acres of farm land, but with no rain, they have no hope of a good groundnut crop this year. Srinivas’ parents Venkataramanaiah and Sarojamma say they now look forward to the birth of their grandchild. “We are eager to see the birth of our grandchild. We can take solace in seeing the child grow. After losing a son, the child will be God’s gift to us”, said Sarojamma.