A tragic incident was reported at the Radha Rani temple in Barsana, located in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district, on Sunday after heavy crowd pressure inside the temple complex. A 65-year-old woman devotee from Ghaziabad died after collapsing during the visit.
The deceased, identified as Savita, had arrived in Barsana on Sunday morning with six family members for darshan at the temple. According to available information, she reached the junction by train at around 9 am and travelled to Barsana by tempo thereafter. As Sunday coincided with a holiday, a large number of devotees were present at the temple from early morning, with crowd density continuing to increase as the day progressed.
By around 11 am, the temple premises and the approach route to the Radha Rani temple had become extremely congested. Eyewitnesses stated that Savita became trapped in the crowd near the free community kitchen located along the temple route. Due to intense crowd pressure and breathing difficulty, she lost consciousness and collapsed.
Her family members and people present at the site managed to pull her out of the crowd after considerable effort. With the assistance of local residents, she was immediately taken to the Community Health Centre, where doctors administered primary treatment and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. As her condition did not improve, she was referred to the district hospital, where doctors later declared her dead.
Savita was a resident of A-Block, Vikas Kunj, Indirapuri in the Loni area of Ghaziabad. A family member, Ramapati, stated that she was the elder sister of his friend and had undertaken the religious visit with her family. The sudden incident has left the family in deep shock.
According to Anurag Chaudhary, in-charge of the Ladli Ji temple police outpost, the woman collapsed near the free kitchen on the Radha Rani temple route and was promptly sent to the Community Health Centre before being referred to the district hospital. Police have recorded information related to the incident.
This is not the first instance of fatal crowd-related incidents at the Radha Rani temple. In 2012, three devotees died in a stampede during abhishek darshan. In 2023, two devotees reportedly died due to suffocation on the stairs at Sudama Chowk while proceeding for abhishek darshan. In 2024, during Laddu Holi celebrations, crowd pressure led to the collapse of a stair railing as devotees waited for the temple gates to open, resulting in injuries to more than 20 people.
