Smile has returned on Sheetal Singh’s face a year since the blast at Mehrauli market on September 27 last. The 11-year-old, though, has to live with dental surgeries each year.

Sheetal sustained severe injuries in mouth and jaw — she was among the 23 injured by what the police call a “low-intensity” blast that still remain unsolved.

It left three dead.

Santosh, 11, was among them.

Locals recall vividly how he picked up a package dropped by two men on a motorcycle and ran after them. “Uncle, you lost this,” he screamed. Then a deafening blast shook the market.

Santosh died instantly.

Deepu, 24, was left critical: he was declared “brain dead” and later died. “But seven people are living because of him — before he died, he had donated his eyes, kidneys, heart and heart valves,” market association president Ashok Randhawa said.

To mark the blast’s first anniversary, Randhawa is organising a remembrance programme on Sunday.

Istiyaq Ansari, 24, an MBA student shopping for Eid in the market, was the third victim — he died during treatment on October 7 last.

Santosh’s father Mahesh, meanwhile, still awaits the Rs 3-lakh compensation promised by the Centre. And Sheetal’s father Bakkar Singh said each surgery on the girl’s teeth costs over Rs 60,000. The government compensation was Rs 50,000.

A splinter is still lodged at the back of Sheetal’s neck and doctors say removing it could prove fatal for the girl, who was crossing the market to return home from school that September afternoon.

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