Mohan Kuthar Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru Mangaluru, Oct 7: In a move that has sparked public outrage and raised questions about administrative sensitivity, Ashwini, the mother who lost both her legs and two children in the Manjanady hill collapse, has been served a WhatsApp notice by investigating officials asking her to appear at the site and explain “how the hill collapsed.” The landslide, which occurred on May 30 in Urumane Kodi, Manjanady village, Dakshina Kannada, was triggered during an alleged unscientific panchayat road project, carried out without proper safety measures. A portion of a 70-foot-high hill gave way and buried Ashwini’s house, killing her two children, her mother-in-law, and leaving Ashwini permanently disabled after both legs were amputated. Her father-in-law also lost a leg. Following complaints filed by Ashwini to the chief secretary and principal secretary of the Karnataka Government, the district administration has now initiated an investigation. An executive engineer from the state Irrigation Department has been appointed to lead the inquiry. Shockingly, the notice to Ashwini was sent via WhatsApp on October 7, summoning her to be present at the landslide site on October 8 at 1 pm to provide her statement. The decision has left the family fuming. “She’s lost her children and legs — and now they want her to travel back to the site of her trauma and explain how the hill collapsed? Shouldn’t officials be the ones coming to her?” a family member questioned. The Karnataka State Human Rights Commission had earlier, on September 30, instructed the Mangaluru police commissioner to conduct a thorough probe and submit a report by November 17. In her formal complaint, Ashwini stated that during the panchayat road construction, the hill was cut without any precautionary measures, machinery or environmental safety assessment. “The hill collapsed onto our house. My two children and mother-in-law died. I lost both legs. My father-in-law lost one. We are left permanently disabled,” she wrote. Despite filing an FIR under Sections 105 and 106 of the BNS on the day of the incident, Ashwini alleges no action was taken against the engineer responsible. She also accused the Zilla Panchayat executive engineer of submitting a false report to cover up departmental negligence—claiming the road was built manually without JCBs and falsely describing her five-year-old concrete house as an “80-year-old structure.” Ashwini has now requested a high-level investigation by a senior IAS officer or state-level engineer, and filed a second petition with the Human Rights Commission. With government compensation exhausted on medical treatment and no home to return to, Ashwini is surviving through public crowdfunding. Her family is now urging the state to show basic compassion and deliver justice to a woman who has already lost everything. Manjanady tragedy: Human Rights Commission issues notice to police chief for report submission Manjanady landslide tragedy: MP Brijesh Chowta questions delay in FIR, chief secy orders probe Manjanady landslide claiming 3 lives: Complaint filed against unscientific roadwork Mangaluru: Three including two children die as house collapses in landslide
