Manoj, at 12 years of age, was a breadwinner for his family. His family has many members, including four young sisters and three brothers, one of whom is only a month old. Son of Jilayeet and Savita who live in Chowkaghat area of Varanasi, Manoj was killed in the blast that occurred at the Varanasi Collectorate and court premises on Friday afternoon.

Manoj earned a living by polishing people’s shoes at the court premises to complement his father’s meagre earnings. “Every evening, he arranged food for the family as his father could not earn enough by cleaning ears of people. We have lost the real earning member of the family,” said his aunt Tara. She and Manoj’s grandmother were waiting to see his body at the Varanasi District Hospital.

The Dalit family, which hails from Akbarpur, made Varanasi their home ten years ago.

When told about the ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh to be given to the family, his mother said, “If I kill your son, can you accept Rs 2 lakh as replacement for him.”

“Kya Mayawatiji mere bete ko vapas la dengi is do lakh rupye se (Can Mayawati bring back my son with this Rs 2 lakh),” she said, breaking into tears.

Lawyers at the Varanasi court too were shocked. “He not only polished our shoes, but even accepted our abuses as jokes. It is unbelievable that the boy who was some relief for us in times of tension is lost forever,” said Prashant, one of the lawyers there.

... contd.