17 years after Delhi serial blasts, survivors live with trauma, loss

New Delhi: Sanjay Prasad broke down in tears as he pointed to a juice corner at the bustling Sarojini Nagar market where his elder brother was found dead after a bomb explosion on October 29, 2005.

Some lost a sibling, some their parents and some, like Manisha Michael, lost both.
It has been 17 years since the terror attack, but survivors and families of the deceased victims who gathered at a memorial on Saturday say that time has not been a healer.

Serial blasts had ripped through crowded marketplaces of Sarojini Nagar, Kalkaji, and Paharganj, leaving 67 people dead and over 225 injured in 2005 two days before Diwali.

“The day remains vivid in my mind. Barely 10 minutes before the blast, I met my brother who worked at a shop and walked past the market. When I heard the noise of the blast and turned around, I saw a thick blanket of smoke and stench of burning flesh,” Prasad, 34, said, as he paid homage to his elder brother at Sarojini Nagar.

Manisha Michael, who was eight years old when she lost her parents and brother in the blast, said that the trauma persists even today.

“I’ve lived with my grandparents since then. I have overcome a lot of hurdles alone and learnt to deal with everything by myself but the emotional trauma is still there,” she said.

Jagriti Ochani, who was nine years old when she survived the bombing at Sarojini market along with her mother, said that she “feels terrified to visit crowded places”. She lost her 8-month-old sister in the blast and suffered 45 per cent burn injuries. “It took two plastic surgeries and several years of treatments for my injuries. The emotional wound will always remain the same,” she said. (PTI)