'Not a day goes by that we don't think about our little girl'

In a matter of weeks last summer, Gyanendra Kumar and his wife Seema underwent two heartbreaks – the death of their newborn twins.

- Hemani Bhandari and Jignasa Sinha

NEW DELHI: One died at birth on April 17, and the other was killed as a deadly fire blazed through the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Baby Care New Born hospital in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar on May 25.

In all, seven babies were killed, the owner Dr Naveen Khichi was arrested, and what emerged was a case of gross negligence and safety violations. A year on, the parents of the victims – struggling to move on – spoke to HT about their loss, anger and grief.

For two years, Gyanendra and Seema, who live in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, prayed for a baby, and in 2023, when they learnt they were going to be parents, their happiness knew no bounds. Little did they know that a cruel fate and prolonged battle for justice lay ahead.

“I attended the court hearing the first two times but since then haven’t been able to attend any. It’s not easy to go to Delhi from Prayagraj frequently. Nothing is happening in this case. I want the doctor to receive the harshest punishment,” said Gyanendra, 43, who works as a record keeper in a government department.

Like Gyanendra, 36-year-old Vinod Sharma, a resident of Shahdara, too has stopped going for the court hearings.