Srikakulam, March 18: The family of B Tejaswi, a student of IIT-Bhubaneshwar in Odisha who was run over by a train while she was crossing the track on Wednesday, is trying hard to hide the news of her death from her mother Anuradha. The untimely death of the girl, who hailed from Srikakulam, has left her family in gloom and incontrollable sob.
Along with Tejaswi, another IIT-B student from Hyderabad, D Dinesh, was knocked down by the Khurda Road-Kharagpur Passenger train.
According to information reaching the family members of the deceased students, the accident occurred when Tejaswi, along with her friends, took a short-cut to her hostel through the Bhubaneswar railway station while returning from the college after the practical examination. “All others had just crossed over all the tracks to the other side but Tejswai’s feet got stuck in the joints of the fifth track and she struggled hard to wrench free but in vain. Seeing her in trouble, Dinesh rushed to her rescue and tried pull Tejaswi out. But even as he was trying to save his fellow student’s life, the two were run over by the approaching train and killed,’’ Dinesh’s cousin Praveen told Express.
“Tejaswi had come down to our house for dinner last Sunday and promised to spend her next holiday at our place. I can’t get the sight of her out of my mind. She was a very bright student and had topped the district in SSC with 571 marks. It is a very unfortunate turn of events. We are trying our best to hide the news from her mother,” said the girl’s uncle, B Naidu.
Tejaswi was among the top ten rankers in the AIEEE in 2009. She let go of the chance to study at the NIT-Warangal as she wanted to do electrical science at the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology-Bhubaneshwar).
The family had shifted from Veeraghattam mandal to Srikakulam about a decade ago. Tejaswi had aimed for IIT right from the time she passed SSC and has joined the IIT in June last year.
Her father, B Ratnakar, a conductor with the APSRTC in Srikakulam, has always been very proud of the girl given to humour. She also excelled in dance and her’s academic achievements brought prestige and honour to the family. “I lost my best friend who always used to guide me in every way of my life. She was much more than my sister,” cried Tejaswi’s sister Yasaswini.
“My uncle told me not to divulge the news of Tejaswi’s death to my mother but this is pushing me into more depression. My father had called me up yesterday and said that my sister was injured in a road mishap and he was leaving for Bhubaneswar in the night itself to bring her here. I hope that I can keep the news from my mother till my sister’s body arrives,” she said weeping.
After the postmortem was done, the body will be brought back to Srikakulam tonight.
The news of the fatal accident left Dinesh’s mother, Parvatamma, in a state of shock. Parvatamma took up the burden of bringing up her two sons, Kranthi and Dinesh. She is working as a lecturer at a government college at Choutuppal in Nalgonda district.
Dinesh, who studied at Narayana Junior College in Hyderabad, secured 242nd rank in the AIEEE and joined the IIM-B last year. “He was not only good at academics but also at other fields including sports,’’ the family members said. Dinesh’s elder brother, Kranthi, is pursuing his third-year veterinary medicine course in Visakhapatnam.
“Being the youngest of the two children, Dinesh had the special affection of my aunt. She is an inconsolable state,’’ said Dinesh’s cousin Praveen. Hearing the tragic news, the family members flew to Bhubaneshwar to bring the body home.
–Agencies