Susanta Ghorui held his newborn daughter for the first time on Saturday night, four days after losing his elder one under the rubble of a collapsed house in Ahiritola in north Kolkata.
Around 9pm on Saturday, Susanta, accompanied by elder brother Jayanta, entered the female ward of a hospital and persuaded the nurses to allow him to meet wife Priyanka and hold the baby girl in his arms.
The baby cried out loud, bringing a smile to Susanta’s face.
The family had been visiting Priyanka at the hospital for the last few days but Susanta could not meet his wife before Saturday.
The injuries he had suffered in the house collapse and a nagging chest pain had left him shuttling between his Ahiritola house and the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital over the last few days.
The shock of losing his three-year-old daughter Srijika also hung heavy on him and left him almost immobilised.
Srijika and her maternal grandmother were crushed under the debris of the collapsed house on Wednesday morning. Susanta and Priyanka were trapped, too, but were rescued on time.
“We tried explaining to bhai (younger brother) that he has to live for his newborn daughter. On Saturday night, we hired a cab and took him to RG Kar hospital to meet his wife,” said Jayanta.
Priyanka is yet to be told that her elder daughter and mother were no more.
So when Susanta met his wife, he told her that her elder daughter was undergoing treatment at a children's hospital in Phoolbagan for her fractured arm and her mother was admitted to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. That’s exactly what other family members have been telling Priyanka since Wednesday.
“Priyanka kept asking about her elder daughter. She was very attached to Srijika and wouldn’t leave her for a moment,” Jayanta said. “We have decided to tell the truth after she returns home.”
Priyanka is struggling to walk. Doctors said she would need to stay in the hospital for a few more days. The mother and the baby are otherwise doing fine.
