E-Paper
Ludhiana gas leak: Orphaned, 10-month-old bids final goodbye to parents
Tears rolled down every eye at the cremation of the couple- Sourav, 35, Preeti, 31- and his mother Kamlesh, 60, on seeing the infant, who miraculously escaped death
Nestled in the arms of his aunt, a 10-month-old infant curiously looked around at the Giaspura cremation ground and searched for his parents Sourav Goyal and Preeti, who perished in the gas leak tragedy and were consigned to flames by their family members on Monday.
Tears rolled down every eye at the cremation of the couple- Sourav, 35, Preeti, 31- and his mother Kamlesh, 60, on seeing the infant, who miraculously escaped death.
Resting in his maternal aunt Madhvi’s arms, the boy was oblivious to the fact that it was his final goodbye to his parents.
Gaurav Goyal, who is Saurav’s brother and admitted to the civil hospital on Sunday, lit the three pyres.
Relatives of the family and residents of the affected area gathered in large numbers at the cremation.
Everybody present there described the incident as catastrophic, especially for the boy who lost both of his parents at such a young age.
Sourav and Preeti got married in 2019. Sourav, who completed his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree, hailed from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh while Preeti’s family was from Lucknow.
Gaurav said that just a night before the incident, the family had dinner with Saurav’s friend Amit, who had arrived to stay with them for the night.
Sharda Prasad, who is Preeti’s brother and lives in Makkar colony, said “The child will remain with us.” He said that he along with Preeti’s other siblings will do their best to provide for the boy.
He said that the culprits who are responsible for this should be strictly punished and the government should bear the expenses for education and other needs of the child till he becomes self-dependent.
Among those who perished in the tragedy was also Sourav’s friend Amit Gupta of Aligarh. His family members who came from Aligarh on Monday took the body into their custody and left for Aligarh to cremate him.