As fate would have it, 19-year-old Arpitha’s body was cremated at the Hebbal electric crematorium, which is located barely a few metres from the Esteem Mall junction where she was run over by a tanker on Thursday.
After performing the rituals at her house in Devanahalli, Arpitha’s body was brought to the crematorium in Hebbal. Hundreds of students from Sindhi College where she studied, her friends and family members paid their last tributes to the girl.
Arpitha’s parents Janardhan and Kalavathi were inconsolable. The mother collapsed before having a final glimpse of her daughter.
She was the niece of G Chandranna, former MLA from Devanahalli. Prathima, a classmate of Arpitha, said, “We got the news about her death late in the evening on Thursday. Only after watching the CCTV footage did we get an idea of the intensity of the accident. It is just unfair for someone like her to die so young.”
Uday Kumar, another classmate, said, “She was a quiet girl and always kept a low-profile. She stuck to her group of close friends. Arpitha used to get back home as soon as the classes got over.”
The students were attending a seminar and during lunch break, she left college for home, said a teacher who did not want to be named.
The relatives of Arpitha said that she was the most loved one in the family. “Her parents had dreamt that she would make it big as a professional.”