Mother dies in accident; uncertainty shrouds future of teenaged siblings

AGRA: Sixteen-year-old Rahul and his 14-year-old sister Pinki are inconsolable. The teenaged siblings lost their mother, the lone breadwinner for them after the death of their father Ramjash Prajapati 10 years ago, in an accident.
Vandana was a construction labourer. Besides, she also used to work as domestic help at the house of a railway employee for the survival and education of her children.Rahul has passed UP board high school exam with first division this year, while Pinki is in Class IX — the future appears to be uncertain to these children who are left with nothing and have nowhere to go.
Vandana was on her way home along with a co-worker on a motorcycle after the work at a construction site in Rohata village when they met with a fatal accident on Malpura road on the evening of May 11.
A Dial 100 team shifted them to the emergency ward at SN Medical College in critical condition. Though the kin of her injured co-worker shifted him to a Delhi hospital for better treatment, Vandana succumbed to her injuries on May 13.
After performing the last rites of their mother with the help of Naresh Paras, a social activist, the children have been living alone at their thatched-roof makeshift house at the Railway Colony. “We came to know about the accident in the morning of Mother’s Day on May 12. We rushed to the hospital and took care of our mother till her last breath,” said Rahul, who has not slept for the last four days. Although Rahul is taking care of his sister, she has hardly eaten anything since the death of their mother. They are yet to come to terms with the loss.
Paras said, “Both kids are bright and they want to live together and study to fulfil the wish of their mother. Vandana had shifted to Agra from Gorakhpur after the death of her husband. We tried to contact her relatives, but they remained apathetic. In such circumstances, the district administration and social organisations must come forward to help the children. I am trying to bringthe matter to the notice of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR)”.
“I have promised to my mother that I will take good care of my sister,” said Rahul. “I will try to find some work to support her studies. I just need some help to adjust to the current situation. We have a ration card, but the dealer refused to provide ration. We have left with provisions for just a few more days. But, I will do anything, even begging, but not let my sister suffer,” said Rahul wiping tears that rolled down to his cheeks.
Talking to TOI, district probation officer Luvkush Bhargava said, “Since the children have nobody to look after them, they can be sent to child protection home either in Firozabad or Kanpur with the approval of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). However, there is no provision of keeping the brother and sister together.”