Ex-village head loses 3 children

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Kushinagar (UP), April 26

The agonising screams of an aggrieved mother tear through the heart of the Mishrauli village. While some console her, others stand stunned at the unfolding tragedy, as three bodies wrapped in shrouds are unloaded on to the verandah of her house.

The family of former Dalit pradhan Amarjit lost all three children in the van accident at Kushinagar on Thursday morning.

As the bodies of their children — Ravi, 12, Santosh, 10, and Ragini, 7 — arrive on their doorstep, the agony of the parents numbs those around. The women of the village, holding back their tears, try to console the wailing mother.

At nearby Maiharwa village, three families have lost four children.

The family of Mainuddin, who lost two children — Miraj, 8, and Muskan, 7 — is too shocked to react. The wailing father recalls how his daughters had packed their school bags, kept their tiffin boxes and happily left for school in the morning.

Zahir and Nazir from the same village lost their sons Arshad, 9, and Anas, 8, respectively.

Hasan, a resident of Batrauli Dhurkhadwa village, lost two daughters — Tamanna, 8, and Sajida, 10, in the tragedy. He says had the village government school been good enough, he wouldn’t have had to send his daughters outside for studies.