All hell broke loose for 10-month-old Neetika Devi from Talwara village of Parwara panchayat in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district on the midnight of June 30.
As water started entering her house following cloudburst, her father Ramesh Kumar, 31, ran outside to divert the water flow. Her mother Radha Devi, 24, and grandmother Purnu Devi, 59, followed him. But none of them returned.
“Their neighbour Prem Singh, whose house is situated at a distance, found the infant alone. She was crying. Her mother, father and grandmother were nowhere to be seen. Prem Singh took the baby along and informed us in the morning,” Balwant Thakur, a cousin of Ramesh Kumar, told The Indian Express over the phone. Balwant, 60, was a personal security officer of former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur.
Ramesh’s body has been found. But search is still on for Radha Devi and Purnu Devi.
Like Neetika, Ramesh, too, had lost his father when he was little. “Ramesh was only six months old when his father had died in an accident,” said Balwant. The family was dependent on Purnu’s income. “My aunt Purnu Devi was a peon in a government school. There were only seven months left for her retirement. Ramesh was into farming and didn’t earn well,” said Balwant.
Now Neetika is with her aunt. “There is neither road connectivity nor phone connectivity here. Things are so bad. We are finding it difficult to charge our phones. My phone is on as I am out of my village searching for my aunt and sister-in-law,” said Balwant. The district administration contacted the victim’s family on July 3.
“It took me two hours to reach there. The entire road has been washed away. I had to go on foot,” Samritika Thakur told The Indian Express over the phone. She is Sub-Divisional Magistratre, Balh, and has additional charge of Gohar sub-division under which Talwara village falls.
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The SDM’s phone has not stopped ringing since her visit to the victim’s place. “I have got at least 100 calls for adoption. People also wanted to help the baby financially,” said Samritika. “We have given an ex-gratia amount of `25,000 to Neetika’s aunt. Her mother and grandmother are missing. We will
wait for final word on them before doing the next legal formalities.”
