Karur: In a heart-wrenching video that has come to symbolize the human cost of the Karur stampede in Tamil Nadu, Sakthivel from Emoor village recounts how his entire family was wiped out in the tragedy that claimed 39 lives during actor-politician Vijay’s campaign rally. The 36-year-old man lost both his wife Priyadarshini (35) and 14-year-old daughter Darnika when the mother-daughter duo went to attend the political meeting that turned fatal. “They told me they were going to see Vijay and left home happily. I never imagined it would be the last time I would see them alive,” said Sakthivel, his voice choked with emotion as he described the sequence of events that led to the unimaginable tragedy.

Sakthivel’s nightmare began when news of the stampede started circulating. “I called my wife’

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