Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: April 11, 2002
Satish Mishra still carries burns
from the journey aboard the ill-fated S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express
on February 27. But the scars he bears are of the 40 agonising days he's
spent worrying since about his wife, who went missing within minutes of
the carnage.
Nursing his wounds in his oneroom
hutment in Ranoli on Vadodara's outskirts, the 30-year-old contract labourer
says they had gone to attend a family function in Sultanpura area of Lucknow
and were returning by the Sabarmati Express.
When the coach was set afire, he
says he managed to jump out of the coach along with his 13-year-old daughter
and escaped death. Mangalaben, his 28-year-old wife, was admitted to the
Godhra a Civil Hospital and reportedly discharged the same day from the
Out Patients Department.
Nobody knows where she went from
there, though Mishra has registered complaints with both the Railway police
and the a police.
Satish is not a kar sevak, which
perhaps explains why no minister or any official representative has come
calling on him. But he hasn't given up hope, saying: "We believe she is
somewhere because she was treated at the Godhra hospital that day ... She
was treated for difficulty in breathing."
The details of the fateful journey
are still fresh in his minds, of how he had booked the tickets well in
advance anticipating a rush, and how he had told his wife to pack their
luggage just before they were about to enter Godhra station as they had
to get off at the next one. He remembers some passengers getting off the,
coach to have tea and then rushing back, shouting there was a lot of stonepelting.
"We moved to the upper berth and
pulled the window shutters down. After almost three halts, there was a
lot of smoke in the coach," says Mishra. "I managed to jump out of the
coach with my daughter and saved as many people as possible. I kept shouting
for my wife but could not hear her."
He was admitted to the hospital
at Godhra with 50 per cent bum injuries and for at least four days was
not in a position to even move. He was later shifted to a private hospital
in the city by his relatives. However, his wife was never seen again. Mishra
says the police had come to enquire after he filed complaints but even
after 40 days, nobody has been able to provide any information about Mangalaben.
