Anima Barman has hurtled from one unspeakable tragedy to another over the past week. The homemaker from Ghoksadanga in Cooch Behar district first lost her little daughter to disease and then her husband to a train accident while on his way to attend the last rites.
Forty-two-year-old mason Ranjit Barman, Anima’s husband, was returning home from Jaipur in the Bikaner-Guwahati Express to attend the funeral of their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter who had died six days ago of pneumonia when the train derailed in Jalpaiguri on Thursday.
“I don’t know what I will do now. I have lost my husband and daughter within a week,” said Anima, stony from grief.
In Asansol’s Radhanagar, Khushbu Devi has also lost her husband in the train tragedy. Khushbu, five months pregnant, was inconsolable when Ajit Prasad’s mortal remains were brought to their home on Saturday.
Ajit, 33, a railway employee, was travelling to his workplace in Assam and had boarded the train at New Jalpaiguri, barely an hour before the accident. The couple had got married last year and Khushbu had been staying with her parents in Patna after her pregnancy was detected.
She returned to her in-laws’ place on Friday following a phone call from them. “How will I live without you (Ajit)? How will I raise our child?” Khushbu cried.
Samrat Karjee, a 17-year-old boy from Kalpani village in Cooch Behar, is another victim of the accident. His mother works as a house help in Jaipur. Samrat and his brother Biswajit were returning home after spending a few days with her. Samrat was in the coach’s lavatory when the train derailed, said his neighbours.
Mangal Oraon, 40, who had been working in Jaipur for the past 16 years, was returning home with wife Nilima and sons Manik and Rahul. While Mangal lost his life, Manik has suffered serious leg injuries and is receiving treatment at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.
“I have come to know that my son’s leg might have to be amputated. The accident has ruined our family,” Nilima said.
Several passengers of the train or their relatives gathered at the accident site at Domohoni on Saturday to see if they could retrieve their luggage, which contained cash, gold ornaments and other valuables.
Several passengers of the train or their relatives gathered at the accident site at Domohoni on Saturday to see if they could retrieve their luggage, which contained cash, gold ornaments and other valuables.
Rabichand Adhikary of Cooch Behar was among them. The passenger of the train said he was supposed to get married in February.
“My would-be wife and her family live in Rajasthan, where I work. We had taken the train to come home for the marriage. My wife’s father, Naresh Barman, was carrying gold ornaments and cash. After the accident, we got off the coach and he (Naresh) is still under treatment at A hospital in Jalpaiguri. He could not take out the bags where he had kept the cash and gold. That is why we have come here to find out whether we can enter the coach,” Rabichand said.
Additional reporting by our Jalpaiguri correspondent
