LUDHIANA MIRACLE BABY: KIN DECLINE ADOPTION OFFERS
A Ludhiana-based couple, who lost their son Vikas and daughter-in-law Shikha in a car accident along with five members of their extended family, have refused to part away with their granddaughter.
IT’S BEEN A WEEK SINCE THE COUPLE LOST THEIR SON AND DAUGHTERINLAW IN AN ACCIDENT ALONG WITH FIVE MEMBERS OF THEIR EXTENDED FAMILY, BUT SHIVIKA SURVIVED
LUDHIANA: Unmindful of the tragedy that has befallen her, eightmonth-old ‘miracle baby’ Shivika Singh plays in the lap of her grandmother, Shashi Sindhuria, 53, who looks on stoically as her husband, Rajpal Sindhuria, 55, declines yet another caller’s request to give her up in adoption.
It’s been a week since the Ludhiana-based couple lost their son Vikas and daughter-in-law Shikha in a car accident along with five members of their extended family. Shivika survived the accident with minor scratches on the forehead.
The grandfather has been flooded with requests from childless couples seeking to adopt Shivika.
“Not a day passes when I don’t get three to four calls from couples to give Shivika up for adoption. There’s no way I’m giving her away. She is the only living memory of my son and daughterin-law. I simply say no to all of them,” he says.
“Some even offer to pay huge sums in their quest to adopt Shivika. I tell them that she is priceless. She’s our life,” says Rajpal.
The Sindhurias had lost their daughter to an illness in 2001. Vikas was their only son.
The couple’s relatives live in the neighbourhood and are helping out the elderly couple. “It breaks our heart when Shivika looks around for her mother and cries on not finding her. We break down too,” says the grandfather.
Surinder Kumar Bajaj, another survivor of the accident on May 14, lost his wife Reena and sons Raghav and Madhav in the mishap. Shikha and Reena were sisters.
The families were returning home after paying obeisance at the Chintpurni temple in Himachal Pradesh.