"We Added Water To Packaged Milk": Indore Family Loses 5-Month-Old

"God gave us happiness after ten years... and then God took it away," murmuring this repeatedly, an elderly woman weeps quietly in a narrow lane of Indore's Bhagirathpura. Inside the room in front of her is a small bed. There is no noise in the house -- only a heavy, aching silence.

In a corner of the same house sits a mother whose body never produced milk. It was not an illness, just a biological reality. On the doctor's advice, the baby was fed packaged milk mixed with a little tap water. The same water the family trusted. The same water that turned out to be poisonous. Five-and-a-half-month-old Avyaan is no more.

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Several people have died in Indore's Bhagirathpura locality after consuming contaminated water. 

Avyaan's father, Sunil Sahu, works with a private courier company. After years of prayers and waiting, his son was born on July 8 - ten years after their daughter Kinjal. 

The baby was healthy. There was no illness. But two days ago, Avyaan developed fever and diarrhoea. He was taken to a doctor and given medicines, but his condition kept deteriorating. By Sunday night, he was critically ill. On Monday morning, Avyaan died on the way to the hospital.

The family believes the illness came from the water.

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Sunil says no one told them the water was contaminated. They filtered it, added alum, and took precautions. The entire neighbourhood was using the same supply. No warning was issued. No advisory was given.

"I believe the water we mixed into the milk harmed him," Sunil says. "My wife couldn't produce milk, so we added water to packaged milk, as advised by doctors. We used Narmada tap water. We never imagined it was so polluted. He had diarrhoea for two days. We gave him medicine. Then suddenly he collapsed. Only later did people here tell us the truth," he adds.

"We are poor. Our son has a private job. That's what runs the house. We cannot accuse anyone. God gave us happiness... and then took it away," his mother says softly.

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Inside the house, the baby's mother drifts in and out of consciousness. Ten-year-old Kinjal sits silently, as if she understands that something has broken which cannot be repaired.

This is not only Avyaan Sahu's story. It is the story of a mother who had no milk but had trust. It is the story of a grandmother who has no words, only tears. It is the story of a city that calls itself clean, but whose silence has become its deepest stain.