36yo tribal folk singer killed in road crash in Udham Singh Nagar

Rudrapur: A folk singer from the Tharu tribal community, Rinku Rana (36), died in a road accident on Thursday after a tractor-trolley allegedly rammed into her scooter in the Sitarganj area of Udham Singh Nagar district. Rana, a resident of Naugaja in Nanakmatta, had gone to her parental home in Bichpuri village to celebrate Holi, police said.On Thursday afternoon, she was returning home on a scooter with her niece, Jiya Rana. At around 1 pm, a speeding tractor-trolley loaded with bricks hit their scooter, leaving both of them seriously injured. Locals rushed them to the govt hospital in Sitarganj. Doctors declared Rana dead on arrival, while her niece sustained injuries and is currently undergoing treatment. Police later shifted Rana's body to the sub-district hospital in Khatima for postmortem. SHO Nanakmatta Umesh Kumar said, "Further legal proceedings are underway." Expressing grief,CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "The untimely demise of folk singer Rinku Rana is deeply saddening. Her contribution to preserving the cultural heritage of the Tharu community will always be remembered."Rana was associated with the cultural troupe of Tharu folk artist Bunty Rana from Khatima and was regarded as one of the emerging voices of the Tharu community. She had performed at several state-level cultural programmes and was a leading member of the troupe. She is survived by her husband Mahesh Singh and their nine-year-old son, Nishant Singh. "She was a dedicated folk artist and performed with our troupe at several state-level programmes. She also served as co-leader of the group along with me. Her demise is a great loss not only to her family, but also to the entire community," Bunty said.Khatima MLA and deputy leader of opposition Bhuvan Kapri also condoled her death, calling it "a huge loss to the cultural fraternity."