Wall collapse case: Hang the guilty, mom tells mayor

Madhu Singh, the mother of 17-year-old Sanjana Singh who died in a wall collapse at the Veterinary Medical College along the Bellary Road recently, was full of anguish on Tuesday morning.

Eyes filled with tears and anger writ large on her face, she stood in the hall of her single-bedroom house in Ganganagar, when Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) mayor SK Nataraj, with his team of corporators and Palike officials, entered her house.

The team from BBMP had gone to console the grief-stricken family. But, it instead opened a floodgate of Madhu’s emotions.

“I want all those who are guilty in Sanjana’s case to be hanged to death,” she said, as the mayor stood stunned in front of her, hanging his head in shame.

“If you just put them behind bars, they will still manage to come out and kill many more Sanjanas,” she said.

The mayor’s efforts to console her went in vain as Madhu continued to bellow in rage at the VIP group at her house.

“I got to know from the media that contractor-turned-corporator Munirathna wanted to give Rs1 crore to us. I don’t want money. I will pay Rs1 crore to BBMP officials and contractors. Let them bring back my daughter Sanjana Singh,” she said.

“Will the money you give get me my daughter back? We just want authorities to nail the culprits. We don’t want to see more lives taken for granted,” she said.

Nataraj wanted to take out a cheque from his pocket to give it to the family, but he was so astounded by Madhu’s outburst that he did not dare move. “I assure you that severe action will be taken against all those who were involved in the construction of the wall,” he told Madhu.

“An expert committee of engineers from outside the Palike will be set up immediately. The committee will submit its report in three days. We will make sure that justice is delivered by punishing all the people responsible for Sanjana’s death,” he said.

Sanjana’s father Ashok Kumar Singh said he would wait for a few more days to see what the government did in the case. “I will wait for another 10-15 days. If I find that the government is not doing enough, then I will file a PIL (public interest litigation) in court against those officers who are found guilty,” he said. “I will fight a case against them.”

Surprisingly, Congress corporator from Yeshwantpur, Munirathna, who had allegedly executed the contract to build the wall, was present near the wall collapse site.

He was later seen following the mayor’s car to Sanjana’s house. But, he did not meet her family. He rather sat inside his car about 100 metres away from Sanjana’s house.

When DNA asked him why he did not meet Sanjana’s family, he said: “I came here as I had some work with BBMP chief engineer Chikkarayappa. I did not want to meet Sanjana’s parents, because they feel I am the culprit. I do not want to meet them till I prove that I am not guilty.”