He was on duty in the burning coach

Rajinder,a constable with the Railway Protection Force (RPF),was among the 68 people killed in the February 18,2007 blasts on the Samjhauta Express. He was in the coach where the first blast took place and died on the spot.

Nearly five years after his death,Rajinder’s wife Kamlesh got a job on compassionate grounds at a salary of Rs 12,000. Kamlesh,her three children and her father-in-law Chand live in a two-room house in Qadian Gujran village.

At the entrance of the village,a huge gate erected in Rajinder’s memory bears his picture. “Rajinder was my only son and was only 35 when he died. My brother Sukhdev Raj,who is an inspector in the RPF,broke the news. I lit my son’s pyre,but ever since,I have not been able to attend any funeral. My son is a martyr,but no officer or minister has ever bothered to come to us,” says Chand.

Kamlesh does a 10-hour daily shift at Gurdaspur railway station. “It’s extremely difficult for a woman to be doing night shifts. These terrorists have ruined my family,” says Kamlesh,tears welling up in her eyes.

“We don’t live in New Delhi or any other big city where we can keep track of the investigation. If the police have arrested a bunch of people after five years,God knows how many years the case will linger on.”