Yamuna Expressway accident: Three minor daughters not aware of their mother’s death

Every time two-and-half-year-old Meenakshi cries for her mother, her relatives lie to her, saying she will be with them soon. What they have not told Meenakshi and her two elder sisters, Anjali and Rita, is that their mother Suman Devi (36), is no more. She was one of eight people killed in an accident when a bus rammed a truck on the Yamuna Expressway on Friday.

The family faces a challenging task — breaking the news of the their mother’s death to the three girls.

“We have to take the body back home for the last rites. We cannot avoid telling the girls about Suman. We just don’t know how to break it to them,” Arvind Kumar, Rita’s paternal uncle, said.

Devi’s husband, Santosh Kumar, was also injured in the accident, receiving injuries in his right leg. His older daughter, 12-year-old Anjali, and youngest, Meenakshi also suffered minor bruises. But five-year-old Rita sustained serious injuries. “We are waiting for the X-ray to see if it’s a fracture,” Arvind said.

Even though Santosh was injured, he could be seen moving around barefoot in Kailash Hospital premises — from the reception on the ground floor to the first floor, where his daughters were being treated. “Someone has to take charge,” he said.

He said he could not afford to sit and think about his wife’s demise.

“I have no idea how I will take care of three daughters singlehandedly. But now is not the time for me to think about the future. I first need to come up with a way to break the news of my wife’s death to my daughters. I cannot bear to look at the pain on their faces,” Santosh said.

Devi and Kumar worked as labourers in a private factory in Noida, and lived in Sector 82.

The family was on its way back to Noida from Jalaun district after attending a wedding. “My mother lives there. She hadn’t been keeping well for a while. So when a family wedding came up, we decided to stay with her for two weeks. We were on our way back and were supposed to resume work on Friday. But now I don’t even know how I am going to get through the next few days,” Arvind said.