He came as God's guardian for us. Had it not been for his birthday party, we would also have been charred to death on the fateful night, says Manju Devi
When Pooja (28) decided to take a day off from work to celebrate the birthday of her nephew on Saturday, little did she know that the party will be a blessing in disguise. Three members of the family, who worked in the doomed factory, thank their stars and the little birthday boy who turned out to be a guardian angel for them. "He came as God's guardian for us. Had it not been for his birthday party, we would also have been charred to death on the fateful night," said Manju Devi, Pooja's mother.
Pooja, a widow, her elder sister Sudha (35) and their cousin Bandhan (18) had started working at the factory only around three days back. Pooja, a mother of three had to take up this job as she had no other source of income.
Her elder sister Sudha followed her. Bandhan's name was removed from the nearby school, so he opted to work.
"Initially, they said we are being hired to make stickers for a monthly wage of Rs 6,000 and more money would be given if we worked overtime. In fact, just in three days I worked overtime. The supervisor would teach us how to do the packaging of the colours and put them in a box ," narrates Pooja.
Sudha, on one occassion, while putting the colours in the packaging noticed it had explosive substance and informed the supervisor but he asked her to continue working and not reveal it to others.
The colour on their hands and necks was so strong that despite several showers the stains are still there. "My daughters are crying from the moment they got to know about the incident. Since most women worked there, they bonded strongly. I am happy for my family but I can't control my tears thinking about others who lost their lives," added Manju.
LIST OF DECEASED
Afsana Mukthar 42, Bulandshahr, UP
Rajo, 65, Holmbikalan, New Delhi
Rita, 18, Holmbikalan, New Delhi
Madina Nasrudin, 55, Holmbikalan, New Delhi
Beby Devi, 40, Holmbikalan, New Delhi
Sonam, 23, Holmbikalan, New Delhi
Suraj, 20, Bawana, New Delhi
Ravikant, 20, Ambedkar Nagar, UP
Ranjit, 26, Banka Vihar
Pintu (not known) Devgarh, Jharkhand
Sukhda, 42, Sitapur, UP
Kusma, 47, Sitapur, UP
Soni, (not known) Sitapur UP
Rohint,19, Unnao, UP
Sanjit, 19, Unnao UP
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