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Inconsolable: Ashwin Patel weeps in front of the body of his 10-year-old son Rohan yesterday, who died in the blast at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. PIC/NIMESH DAVE |
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Purushottam |
How Ashwin Patel is living through this experience is anyone's guess. Suffering with Ashwin are his wife Geeta, mother Champaben and sisters Shobha and Neeta.
"I cannot even describe what we are feeling right now. It was the day after the blasts that we came to know about my husband Purushottam's death. And then to see his picture in the papers and the story about him being the suicide bomber at the civil hospital," Champaben told MiD DAY.
"Ashwin just lost his mind. He would go on and on about his missing son and daughter. Yesterday morning, Geeta went to the post mortem centre and identified the bodies of Shraddha (8) and Rohan (10)," she said.
Shraddha and Rohan's bodies were so badly mutilated that they were barely identifiable. Shraddha's body was identified by the frock she was wearing and Rohan by his gap-
toothed mouth.
All this time, Ashwin was not told about his children's death. Even when the bodies were brought home yesterday, Ashwin kept talking to them. And when it finally sunk in that he was looking at his children's dead bodies, he broke down. Soon after, Purushottam was cremated and the kids buried.
How they died
On the day of the blast, Purushottam and Shraddha were on their way to deliver the tiffin to Champaben, who works in the trauma centre of Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital. Rohan who was playing in a park nearby too joined them. On their way back, the first blast occurred.
"Worried about Champaben being caught in the midst, the trio were going back to the trauma centre. That's when the second blast took place. They were close to the car that had the bomb," said Geeta.
