She remembers nothing, doesn’t let family forget

Sipti Jaspreet Makhija was only two months old when she was injured in the chest in Akshardham temple attack last year. Today, she is 14 mon...

Sipti Jaspreet Makhija was only two months old when she was injured in the chest in Akshardham temple attack last year. Today, she is 14 months old and has grown into a bubbly little girl with bright eyes. She does not know that her father Jaspreet was among those killed.

She battled for life at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for three and half months before doctors declared her out of danger. But the danger of infection due to the bullet wound and the 26 stitches she received will remain till she is five. Her mother Gurjeet, who was also injured, says: ‘‘Sipti has recovered but there is always a fear of infection for the next five years.’’ At present, Sipti is staying with her uncle Avtarsinh Makhija at Gandhibaugh Society in Rakhial.

Unable to control her tears, Gurjeet says: ‘‘As I started from Kalol in the morning, I knew going to Akshardham after the incident and that too, on the same day was not going to be easy. And as I entered I could recall what happened that day…’’

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‘‘On seeing the temple and the exhibition hall where Jaspreet died, I felt though life has returned to normalcy in the temple premises, my life is ruined.’’

‘‘Jaspreet had come to take me back to Kota and we decided to come to the temple for a visit when the terrorist attacked and he died. After Sipti was discharged from the hospital, I went to Kota to my in-laws’ but the family refused to accept me and my two daughters. They hold me responsible for Jaspreet’s death.’’

‘‘The Makhija family came to Ahmedabad last month but no one even bothered to talk to the two girls,’’ she adds. ‘‘My parents gave me shelter. My in-laws have promised to put away Rs 6 lakh in the name of both my daughters but they are not bothered. While the whole world supported me after the attack, they abandoned me and that hurts more than any of these injuries,’’ she says.