Sonalben Padhiyar was the only survivor among her family members after the car she was travelling in fell into the river. Recounting the terrifying moments, Ms Padhiyar told the Indian Express newspaper that she was sitting in the back when the car fell into the river headfirst.  A video of her, visibly distressed and shouting for someone to save her son, has since gone viral. She later told ANI that she screamed for a long time before help arrived. She lost six family members.

Dilipsinh Padhiyar, another survivor (not related to Ms Padhiyar), was returning home from a night shift on his two-wheeler when the accident took place. “Traffic was moving as usual,” he told the Indian Express.  He said he had barely crossed 100m on the bridge when he felt a vibration before the structure gave way. “I found myself falling into the river,” he said. Mr Padhiyar suffered injuries but managed to hold on to a metal rod and stay afloat until local fishermen arrived to help.

Eyewitnesses said the collapse felt like an earthquake, shaking the ground and sending multiple vehicles crashing into the river.

Jairaj Singh, one of the locals who rushed to the scene, told BBC Gujarati he was alerted by a phone call from a friend.

“As soon as I heard, I rushed over,” he said. “We began pulling out vehicles with ropes. People from the area came together to help.”

The collapse has set off a political row, with locals saying they had often complained about its poor condition.

Ravibhai, who lives in the area, told BBC Gujarati that the bridge would often shake when heavy vehicles drove on it.

Abhesinh Parmar, a local council chief from a village near the bridge, said it was in a “dilapidated” condition and “had potholes everywhere”.

“Rods could be seen sticking out of the structure. We complained many times, but no action was taken,” he alleged.

Rushikesh Patel, a spokesperson for the Gujarat government, denied this, saying that the bridge was inspected and repaired at regular intervals.

“Recently, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had approved dismantling the existing bridge and constructing a new one. We were set to issue a tender soon,” he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is from Gujarat, has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and announced compensation.

Wednesday’s collapse is among a series of deadly accidents linked to ageing and poorly maintained public infrastructure in India.

In 2022, around 135 people were killed when a 137-year-old suspension bridge in Gujarat’s Morbi  town collapsed into a river. The bridge, a popular tourist attraction, had reopened for visitors just days earlier following repairs.

[BBC]

Senior police official Milind Shinde told the BBC on Thursday that they were investigating the allegations. The arrested women would be produced in court later in the day, he said.

The police complaint names four other teachers and two trustees of the all-girls school in Thane in the western state of Maharashtra. BBC has reached out to the school authorities for a response.

In their complaint, police have invoked sections of the law that deal with assault and intent to outrage modesty of women. They have also added sections from the stringent Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

The parents have alleged that all the students from 5th to 10th classes – who would be between the ages of 10 and 16 – were summoned to a hall by the school principal on Tuesday. There, they were shown photos from the toilet on a projector, including that of a hand stain, and those who had their periods were asked to raise their hands. A teacher collected hand prints of all those who did.

At least 10 to 15 girls who said they weren’t menstruating were then taken to the toilet, forced to strip and went through an inspection.

The child whose mother lodged the police complaint has alleged that her daughter, who didn’t have her period, was scolded and asked why she wasn’t wearing a sanitary pad. Her hand print was also collected. She said her daughter “felt very ashamed” because of what had happened.

Some of the parents told the BBC that their daughters were traumatised.

“The incident raises serious questions about the safety of our children. Our girls are very afraid. The government should take strict action against the school,” one parent said.

The mother of one of the students told BBC Marathi that when confronted, the principal denied everything. “But the school didn’t have an answer when we asked them whether so many girls could be lying,” she said.

Periods have long been a taboo in India where menstruating girls and women are considered impure and excluded from social and religious events.

Incidents of shaming female students have been reported in the past too. In 2017, 70 students were stripped naked at a residential school in Uttar Pradesh by the female warden after she found blood on a bathroom door.

In 2020, 68 students living in a college hostel in Gujarat were strip searched after they stopped reporting their periods to authorities to avoid restrictions which barred them from entering the temple and the kitchen or touching other students.

At meal times, they had to sit away from others, and in the classroom, they were expected to sit on the last bench.

The regressive ideas are being increasingly challenged by urban educated women, but success has been patchy and women in many parts of the country continue to face discrimination.

[BBC]