TN Student Undertakes Journey Home Amid Lockdown, Dies On The Way

Balasubramani Logesh, hailing from Namakkal in western Tamil Nadu, along with 30 others had left Wardha.

(Photo: The News Minute)

A 23-year-old student from Tamil Nadu who was attempting to return home amid the country-wide lockdown collapsed and died in Hyderabad after covering a distance around 450 kms from Wardha in Maharashtra by walking and using available modes of transport in the past ten days.

Balasubramani Logesh, hailing from Namakkal in western Tamil Nadu, along with 30 others had left Wardha, where he was attending a training course in agro-food field, on foot after the 21-day national lockdown was announced to check the spread of coronavirus.

After the group was spotted by the police and revenue officials walking near Bowenpally market area in Hyderabad on Wednesday, they were told about restrictions on movement of people, taken to a function hall converted into a shelter and provided food.

Around midnight, Logesh fell unconscious following which the other group members alerted police. The man was declared brought dead at a hospital.

According to police, Logesh and others had gone to Wardha and were pursuing the training course and decided to return to Tamil Nadu after the announcement of the lockdown.

“They walked and took different transportation modes (such as trucks carrying essential goods),” a police official said adding it was not clear how much distance they walked.

A post-mortem was conducted and the medical officer said the death occurred due to a cardio respiratory arrest, police said.

After the intervention of  Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar, the Telangana government and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), along with the police, arranged for an ambulance to take the body to his native place, so that his family can perform the last rites.

(This was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)