The hearth of her kitchen remained unlit for the fifth consecutive day as police and local youths failed to trace her daughters--15 years old Kakool and 13 years old Pramila, till Saturday evening. [break]
Kumari Devi, who faints frequently as she recollects the horrendous accident, is not very hopeful about seeing her daughters alive again.
In tune with social customs prevalent in Maithili-speaking society of Tarai, as per which bereaved families do not light up their hearths until their dead ones are cremated, Kumari Devi has stopped cooking. Her neighbors and relatives have been providing her with foods. Just like her, more than a dozen of families who lost their dear ones in the boat tragedy are surviving on food offered by their neighbors. None of them has lit their hearths to cook food.
Tragically, the bereaved families are not certain when, or whether, they will recover their missing ones. Which means their hearths are likely go unlit for few more days, if not indefinitely. Of the total missing in the boat accident, the bodies of only five have been recovered so far. Police have identified only two of the bodies, that of Jeevan Yadav, a 10 years old boy of Chikana-3, and 60 years old Sonafi Yadav of Chikana-6.
District Administration Office (DAO) of Siraha has provided Rs 25,000 to the families of Jeevan and Sonafi each. The DAO has also announced to provide compensation to all others who have lost their dear ones in the tragedy, but only after the bodies of the dead are recovered.
It, however, seems hard that more dead bodies would be recovered from the raging river. Some villagers, mostly youths, have even reached India, traveling along the river bank in search of the bodies of their relatives, but to no avail.
Two rowers of the boat, Dhanik Lal Mukhiya and Shree Lal Mukhiya, have fled their villages, fearing the wrath of the families of missing villagers. They have accused the rowers of operating a too old and fragile boat in the river, risking the lives of villagers.
Meanwhile, police have banned the only other boat at Chikana ghat of Kamala River, saying it too is too old. With the ban, the locals, most of whom have their paddy fields across the river, have found it difficult to cross it.
Related story
Kin of 4 who ‘disappeared’ from Bomjom’s ashram file police com...
