A meeting will be held on Friday, October 28, in Bangalore University to discuss compensation for Shilpa Shree’s family following her death on October 23, according to sources from the university. Shilpa, a BU student, was run over by a BMTC bus on campus on October 10 and had been fighting for life for almost two weeks before succumbing to her injuries, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
Student protests following the accident were quelled by Housing Minister V Somanna and Cooperation Minister ST Somashekar. They had assured that a meeting will be held to discuss compensation to be given to Shilpa’s family as well as safety measures to be enacted across the campus. However, with no meeting conducted and Shilpa’s death soon following, students had threatened to protest on Thursday, October 27, if a meeting wasn’t conducted immediately.
On Thursday, an unofficial meeting was held with university officials and students, who said they will postpone protesting if a meeting was held on Friday. However, the students are unsure if the ministers will honour their promise. “We have been told that an official meeting will be held on Friday. If a meeting is held, we will hopefully be able to address government compensation for Shilpa’s family. If not, we will continue protesting,” said Lokesh Ram, Vice-President of the BU Postgraduate and Research Scholars Union, as per The New Indian Express.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, October 26, BU Vice-Chancellor Dr SM Jayakar, along with several syndicate members, visited Shilpa's family in Bangarapet to offer their condolences. The university has paid a compensation of Rs 5 lakh. Moreover, BMTC has borne the treatment costs for Shilpa, having already paid an initial instalment of Rs 20 lakh.
