Odisha train mishap: Loss of loved ones numbed them out

BHUBANESWAR: Seventy-year-old Sonwa Marandi, from Dumka district of Jharkhand lost his two sons and son-in-law in the tragic triple train accident at Bahanaga on Friday that killed 288 persons. After three days of frantic search Marandi found body of one of his sons and yet to locate two others. Losing the bread-earners of his family, Marandi was apparently in shock and clueless about what to do next.Back home four women and five children are waiting for him to return with the men.
Marandi said, on June 1 they started from Ranchi to Kolkata to board the train to Chennai, where they were going to work as labourers. This was not their first visit though. The had went to Chennai a few years back in search of better livelihood kike many youths from their village. They came to village in March before Holi and were going again.
"They were in a group of five and were constantly on phone- chatting or doing video calls- with friends during the journey. When the accident occurred one of them was on a video call with a friend who was in Chennai and suddenly the phone got switched off. When the friend tried to contact others, the phones kept ringing and none of them picked up the phone. Then they called up us in the village and informed us about the accident. We started on Saturday morning and since then searching for them,” said Anil Marandi, nephew of Sonwa, who accompanied him.
Sonwa, a member of Santhal tribe, is an illiterate and worked as a farm labourer to eke out a living. For the last few years after his two sons went to Chennai to work as labourers, Sonwa has stopped working. This time his two sons were taking their brother-in-law to Chennai along with them for better income. “My wife, my daughter and daughter-in-laws, my grandchildren all are waiting for them to return. What will I tell them? How will I fend for them?” said Sonwa sobbing and showing the passport size photographs of his two sons and son-in-law. After three days of frantic search Sonwa could find one son’s body at Capital Hospital mortuary while two are still missing.
“We are making all arrangements for sending the bodies to their respective villages. We will advise him (Sonwa) to go with one body and we will find other bodies and send them later,” said Avinash Thakur, deputy labour superintendent of Jharkhand government, who is in Bhubaneswar to facilitate transfer of bodies to Jharkhand.
Traumatized Barun, an 18-year-old boy from Bathiya in Bihar, has become numb. Barun has been waiting for more than two hours for his mother at the Police outpost in the premises of Capital hospital. Her mother went to another hospital in the city in search of the bodies of his father and uncle, who were in coromandel express on Friday. Barun had asked them to join him in Chennai where he works in a pet bottle industry. After asking so many questions, Barun in a low voice asked for water.
“I went to Chennai 10 months back with my uncle to work in a pet bottle factory. Now my father and another uncle were coming to join us. I was in Chennai when I came to know about the accident. I went to Balasore but they said all the bodies shifted to Bhubaneswar. My mother also came from the village and we are searching for bodies but not able to find them yet. I have four younger siblings at home,” said a visibly disturbed and restless Barun.