Hyderabad: The bodies of the students washed away in Himachal were cremated on Tuesday afternoon as grieving family, friends and relatives were still coming to terms with the tragedy.
Gampala Aishwarya was cremated at the Alwal crematorium. Her father, Durga Das, performed the last rights. Aishwarya’s parents had gone on a pilgrimage after she had left for the college trip. On the day of the Beas tragedy, her father was at Sabrimala, while her mother was in Madurai.
Akula Vijetha’s body was taken to her grandmother’s house in SR Nagar and cremated at the crematorium.
Vijetha’s close friend Shruthi Singh was inconsolable. “Vijetha was a good basketball player. She was always cheerful and had a typical ‘tomboy’ attitude.”
“She kept messaging on Whatsapp with the updates of her trip. She messaged me what she was wearing, eating and where she was going etc.,” said Shruthi.
Lakshmi Gayathri’s body, meanwhile, was taken to her home at Eenadu Colony in Kukatpally, where the last rites were performed.
One of the last photos taken on the fateful day (Photo: DC)
Lakshmi had called home on Saturday to say that the river rafting they were going to do in Kullu in the morning had been cancelled. Lakshmi’s relatives are angry with the VNR Vignana Jyothi College authorities.
“They said it was an industrial tour. How can the Beas river, Kullu and Manali be part of the itinerary of an industrial tour?” a relative asked.
The Mata mandal of Nalgonda district was also in mourning. B. Rambabu, a second-year student of electronics engineering, was also washed away. After finishing Class XII from Suryapet in his native district, Rambabu had moved to Hyderabad for higher studies.
“He was full of life. He was my lab partner and the classes used to be boring whenever Rambabu was absent,” said C. Kethan Kumar, one of the survivors.
