When a shopping mall in Telangana announced that it would be selling sarees for Rs 10 each, the owners seemed to have least anticipated any chaos. On the day of the sale, over 400 women descended on the store trying to get their hands on the sarees. The chaos led to a stampede-like situation that injured four women and the mall manager getting booked by the police for negligence.
Any day a saree for Rs 10 is a pretty sweet deal that sure would bring in a lot of customers to your store, or so thought the management of CMR Shopping Mall in Siddipet.
However, when the store opened on Saturday for the sale, the management and store staff were ill-prepared to receive the crowd of over 400 women who came to take advantage of the deal.
Visuals taken from inside show a mob breaking open the main shutter to enter the shopping mall.
Police said the stampede started as the store entrance was too narrow to accommodate such a large gathering of people.
Speaking to TNM, S Anjaneyulu, Siddipet I town inspector, said, “The stampede started after a woman fell from a narrow ramp that leads to the main store entrance. Three other women fell over her, this created panic and a stampede like situation. The shopping mall staff did not anticipate the crowd, they were ill-prepared. We have booked a case of negligence against the shopping mall manager.”
In visuals taken in the aftermath of the stampede, some women could be seen lying injured on the floor. In another video, some could be seen applying first aid for minor injuries.
While several media outlets reported that 15 women were injured, police said that only four were injured in the stampede. “These were minor injuries, the women went back home after they received first aid,” police said.
In other videos, women customers can be seen arguing with the mall staff, while the police present there tried to calm the crowd down.
(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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