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Pilgrim in coma dies after 98-day battle
Kota Padmanabham, 56, who has been in coma after being roughed up women security guards on March 20 in the queue near Mahadwaram of Srivari temple at Tirumala, breathed his last on Sunday evening. He battled for life for 98 days at Svims, Tirupati. The death of the pilgrim triggered widespread condemnation by the civil society organisations that condemned the apathy of the TTD in the episode.
Tirupati: Kota Padmanabham, 56, who has been in coma after being roughed up women security guards on March 20 in the queue near Mahadwaram of Srivari temple at Tirumala, breathed his last on Sunday evening. He battled for life for 98 days at Svims, Tirupati. The death of the pilgrim triggered widespread condemnation by the civil society organisations that condemned the apathy of the TTD in the episode.
Highlights:
- Padmanabham of Eluru suffered a heart attack after being beaten up by women security guards at Mahadwaram at Tirumala
- TTD officials never bothered to visit him in SVIMS saying they have nothing to do with his situation
On March 20, Padmanabham of Eluru in West Godavari district, visited Tirumala to have a darshan of the Lord along with his family. When they were about to enter the temple, the TTD women security guards near Mahadwaram allegedly beat up Padmanabham and pushed him as he mistakenly entered the women’s queue line.
As he suffered heart attack immediately, he was rushed to Aswini hospital in Tirumala, and later, was shifted to Svims as his condition was serious. He had been in coma and ventilator since then. A municipal employee in water works department, he was the main breadwinner in the family as his son was working in a cloth shop.
Doctors told Padmanabham’s son Ramachandra Rao a few days ago that there were little chances of him recovering as his brain almost stopped functioning.His family suffered financially and physically as they lost their livelihood for all these days and had to stay put at Svims attending on the patient.
TTD officials never cared to visit him at the hospital maintaining that it was not their fault. This inhuman attitude of the TTD was criticised by many associations.Speaking to The Hans India, Padmanabham’s son Ramachandra Rao said that his father had died at 5.30 pm.
After telling that there was no further treatment available, the doctors even stopped attending on him. They used to feed him through tubes. No body from the TTD paid a visit. They had to spend more than Rs 1 lakh during all these days by taking loans from the friends.
Rayalaseema Porata Samiti convener P Naveen Kumar Reddy lambasted the TTD authorities saying that it was their duty to ensure that every pilgrim leave Tirumala with satisfaction. “When a person nearing the age of 60 entered the queue line by mistake it was not proper for security guards to beat him mercilessly. It will be a big blow to the image of TTD and their attitude towards common pilgrims,” he said.
Social activist Mangati Gopal Reddy criticising the TTD’s attitude that they are not responsible for the incident, asked in such a case why they called upon those two security guards for enquiry. “A case under Section 302 is to be registered against those two guards who were responsible for the death of a common pilgrim,” he said.
By V Pradeep Kumar
