Bhavani was taking kids to gaming joint

BENGALURU: Blood was dripping on the white marble floor of Vittal Mallya Hospital as Bhavani Balan, 37, and her relative Karthik, 21, were brought in with three weeping children holding them tight, after a low-intensity blast injured them on Church Street in the heart of Bengaluru on Sunday evening. Bhavani eventually succumbed to her injuries late on Sunday. Lakshmi Thevi, 11, cried: “No, I won’t go home, I brought mum here,” as her relative Priya was being instructed to take the children home by a male member of the family. Bhavani’s daughter Lakshmi and the rest of the family came down from Chennai for a vacation. Bhavani was the wife of scrap material businessman Balan, a resident of Mount Road, Chennai. She had come to the city on Saturday and was staying with relatives in Mavalli.
READ ALSO: Blast in Bengaluru; 1 woman killed, 3 injured
Karthik and his family live in Bengaluru.
B Narasimha, 65, the auto driver who rushed the victims to the hospital said: “The lady’s head was covered with her clothes when we left; she was bleeding.”
Lakshmi and her brother were inconsolable, while Priya broke down. Almost up to 10pm, cops had prevented even the family from entering the rooms where Bhavani and Karthik were admitted. Around 9.50pm, the family inquired with a senior lady police officer if they were alright and if they needed to shift them to another hospital. “The doctors told me the best team is on the job,” the cop replied, and went in to check. Post 9.50pm, there was barely any news from inside. A lab assistant who came out with reports told TOI that Bhavani had suffered injuries on her brain. Dr Ananth, as the hospital staff referred to him, came out at around 10.07pm and asked the family to keep the women away. “There is a hole in the left side of her skull and there has been excessive bleeding. Her heart rate has dropped considerably and we’re trying to revive her. But I don’t think there are any chances,” he told the family when this reporter was there. The news of her death broke around an hour after.
POST DINNER HORROR
Vinay MR, 39, IBM employee and resident of Basavanagudi, was one among five friends of Sandeep H who met up at Coconut Grove for dinner on Sunday night. Vinay sustained minor injuries on his left leg and was admitted to Hosmat. Doctors said his condition is stable.
Sandeep, an employee of i-Gate and resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, suffered injuries in his left leg and is awaiting an operation.
Vinay told TOI, “We had just finished dinner and came out of the Coconut Grove and were about to disperse. We heard a loud noise and splinters followed. We realized it wasn’t a cracker but thought it could be a cylinder blast. It happened 3 feet behind us. We had always heard and read about terrorism, but never thought we would be victims of the same one day.”
Vinay said it happened at around 8.34 pm and one of his friends called the police control room at 8.36 pm.
(With inputs from Sunita Rao R)