Death came calling before wedding - TeluguPeople.com News

HYDERABAD: To a family whose members have been huge fans of NTR Jr for about 15 years, the death of the 22- year-old M Raju was more than shocking. Raju, along with about 40 of his relatives and friends from Warangal, had come to the city for the audio release function of the actor's latest flick 'Baadshah' on Sunday. Instead of enjoying the event of his favourite actor, the youngster suffocated to death in the stampede.

Raju, who studied up to Class 5, was a daily wage labourer and had three sisters, an elder brother and mother. His mother, Eswaramma, said, 'On Sunday morning he had asked me for Rs 10 and I did not give it telling him that he was earning. He got the money from somewhere and left home with a smiling face.' Breaking down, she said, 'My dear son is gone. Who will look after me now?'

His friends, who gathered near the Osmania mortuary, had wonderful memories of Raju to share. 'He was very jovial and was loved by all. He had no bad habits,' said P Charan who lives in Secunderabad.

P Mahesh, another friend, said, 'He wanted to take care of his family and live for them forever.' According to them, Raju was recently engaged and talks were on to fix a date for his marriage, said Sunil, another friend.

Raju's elder brother Sambaiah, who too is a daily wage worker, was too shattered to say anything while his elder sisters Esthara, Jhansi and Lakshmi sat along with their mother holding a laminated photo of Raju with NTR Jr, near the mortuary. His father, Pedda Narasimha, who was an agricultural labourer, passed away last year.

Even in the midst of tragedy the family drew comfort from the promise of their favourite hero that he would stand by them during this hour of grief. They said that a man called Prathap Reddy, representing producer Bandla Ganesh, had approached them regarding compensation.

Representing fans' association, P Rambabu, who had also come to the mortuary, said, 'NTR Jr called up Raju's mother and consoled her. Neither the family nor the actor discussed money. We have lost a life and at this moment, it is not proper to discuss money. The actor has promised to stand by them.'

Charan recalled, 'We had all reached the venue by 6.30 pm. The bouncers and police were ruthless and, in the surge of the crowd, we got separated. We tried to contact him on his phone but it seemed he lost it in the crowd. By around 7 pm we came to know that Raju had died. We are all NTR Jr's fans. Last year during the Dammu event too, we had come to Shilpakala Vedika.'

TRS MP from Medak Vijayashanti called upon the people of Telangana to boycott the movie, Badshah, in the region.

In a message to the press on Monday, she said organisers would normally postpone functions if any unfortunate incident took place but in the case of Badshah, the organisers went ahead with the function after paying lip sympathy to the bereaved family. 'It reflects the Seemandhra arrogance which should be protested. People of Telangana should boycott the movie,'' she said.