Who will return my son to me?

The Karnataka government leadership, especially deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar, came under fire from both his party colleagues and the opposition over the "hasty" approval for Royal Challengers Bangalore's Indian Premier League (IPL) victory celebration that led to a crush killing 11 people in the state capital.

- Coovercolly Indresh

BENGALURU: As the bodies of the victims from Wednesday's stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium were released to grieving families, grief quickly turned to anger.

One after another, heartbroken parents, spouses and relatives accused the government and organisers of gross negligence, holding them responsible for the chaos that claimed the lives of their loved ones, many of them students and young professionals who had only come to see their cricketing heroes.

The message from families was clear: this tragedy could have been prevented.

"I kept telling him not to go," said DT Lakshman, father of 20-year-old Bhoomik DL, an engineering student from Hassan. "His mother too told him not to go. But, he wanted to click pictures and post them on social media. Now, no matter how loud I call his name, he will not come back. Ministers may visit us, but who will return my son to me?"