The bodies of Mirena, 39, her four-year-old son Trishan Kumar and her mother Madhur Masi arrived in Delhi on Saturday, and were carried through a west Delhi neighborhood in Mayapuri where hundreds gathered to greet them – including Mirena’s husband Pradeep Kumar, 45, who survived the Narmada queen’s coup in Jabalpur and kept coming back with the same thoughts.
“It was my decision to move them there,” he said as his relatives tried to pin him next to the coffins. “If I had not made this decision, my wife, son and mother-in-law would be alive today.”
The family had gone to Jabalpur earlier in the week for a housewarming party, then took a short boat ride on Thursday evening before returning home. Mirena was looking forward to her 15th wedding anniversary on July 9. “She had plans. She wanted to celebrate at our home in Sagarpur,” Pradeep said.
At the cemetery in Dwarka Sector 18B, where the final rites were held, Pradeep gave the fullest account yet of the moments leading up to the coup. As the storm hit and water entered the ship, passengers rushed to get life jackets stored in the basement. “We managed to find seven or eight. Everyone got one except my son,” he said. Merina strapped Trishan into her life jacket. The two were found together the next morning, still tied to him. Mirena’s sister Teresa spoke of the phone call she received at 6.07pm on Thursday – less than a minute long. “She called me and said the ship was capsizing,” Teresa said. “She told me they might not survive. I asked her to keep praying, so she wouldn’t lose hope. She was praying and screaming for help at the same time. I couldn’t do anything. I was hundreds of kilometers away.” The last words I heard were: “We are dying.”
Madore’s body was recovered on the night of the accident. Merina and Trishan were not found until the next morning, an all-night wait for the family, who traveled to Jabalpur and returned with the three bodies on a special flight arranged by local authorities.
Pradeep’s father-in-law, Julius, 67, also survived the accident.
He said that those operating the boat did not take the situation seriously.
