Agony, trauma still haunt Jaipur bomb blast victims

With all the pain, agony and trauma buried within their hearts, the families of the victims have shown tremendous courage in accepting the challenge destiny has thrust upon them.

While the fighting spirit of these families needs to be saluted, the city finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that the five accused in the nine serial blasts that claimed 70 lives on May 13 last year are still at large.

There are many who have suffered financial crisis and emotional breakdown. There are also some like 16-year-old Rahul who are still living with pellets in their bodies: a constant reminder of the traumatic Tuesday evening. “He’s so upset today; has been crying a lot since morning,” Rahul’s sister Priyanka told Deccan Herald. Nearly 70 pellets had pierced his body after the second bomb went off just behind his father’s flower shop near Chhoti Chaupar in the walled city. He has undergone 11 surgeries so far, and still there are many pellets in his body. “The compensation we got has all been spent on Rahul’s treatment,” she said.

There is probably not even a single part of his body which has no pellet. Still, he mustered up the courage to study and appear in the standard X exam. He has three pellets in the chest, and he finds it difficult to even swallow water. He cannot sit for long hours or lift any weight.