Vijay rally stampede: Actor-politician pledges 20 lacs for victims' families

Tamil cinema superstar turned politician Thalapathy Vijay has pledged INR 20 lacs for the families of the victims killed in the fatal stampede at his Karur rally on Saturday.

As reported by the Indian media, Tamil cinema icon and TVK (Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam) founder, Vijay, announced an INR20 lacs ex gratia for the kin of the 41 victims, including 18 women, 13 men, five young girls, and five young boys, who lost their lives in the fatal stampede, which took place at his rally in Karur, Tamil Nadu.

“It is an irreparable loss for us. No matter who offers consolation, the loss of our relatives is unbearable,” he wrote in an X post on Sunday. “However, as a member of your family, I intend to give 20 lakh rupees each to the families of our relatives who are grieving the loss of their relatives and 2 lakh rupees each to those who are injured and undergoing treatment.”

“This is not a huge amount in comparison to the loss. However, at this time, it is my duty as a member of your family to stand with you, my relatives, in solidarity,” Vijay added.

Notably, in addition to the 41 deceased, 56 others were injured in the unfortunate incident.

According to the police, the rally was scheduled to start from the ground, at 3 p.m., with an anticipated crowd of 10,0000 people. However, nearly three times more people turned up at the event, with no sign of TVK chief Vijay until 7.30 p.m., resulting in the chaos, as the attendees had been under the scorching sun at the venue for several hours, without sufficient food and water.

Besides Vijay, the state government of Tamil Nadu has also announced a relief of INR 10 lacs each for the kin of the deceased and INR 1 lac for the injured.

Moreover, PM Modi has pledged INR 2 lacs each for the families of the deceased and INR 50,000 each for those injured in the Karur stampede.