New Delhi: A man presumed dead in the January 29 Maha Kumbh stampede returned home to Prayagraj on Tuesday, shocking his family and friends who were gathered for his thirteenth-day death ritual. The astonishing reunion transformed a sombre occasion into a joyous celebration.
Khunti Guru, a resident of Prayagraj’s Zero Road area, had left home on January 28 to bathe at the Sangam for Mauni Amavasya. When the stampede occurred the next day, and he couldn’t be found, his neighbours feared the worst. After days of searching, they presumed him dead and organised the customary ‘Tehrvi’ ritual.
Guru, however, had simply lost track of time after sharing “chillums” with a group of sadhus. Oblivious to the chaos and his family’s grief, he casually returned home almost two weeks later, stepping out of an e-rickshaw to a crowd of stunned mourners. His simple question, “What are you all up to?”, punctuated the silence and disbelief, Times of India reported.
Social worker Abhai Awasthi recounted Guru’s departure on the evening of January 28 and the subsequent panic after the stampede. The unsuccessful search led to the unfortunate assumption of his demise.
Guru, the son of a well-known lawyer, lives in a small house, believed to be the last vestige of his family’s ancestral property. He never completed his education.
The January 29 stampede during the Maha Kumbh resulted in at least 30 pilgrim deaths and 60 injuries, as per the official figures. Millions had gathered at the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj for the holy dip on Mauni Amavasya.
According to several reports, the number of deaths in the stampede was higher than the number released by the government. An investigation by the Newslaundy claimed that at least 70 people people died in a Maha Kumbh Mela stampede.
