Five-year-old Aryan, son of Deputy Superintendent of Police, Jagdalpur, Devnarayan Patel, who shot himself and his wife, does not want his cousin to become a policeman when he grows up. "If he becomes a cop, he too will shoot himself," Aryan tells his aunt.
Aryan and his sister Poonam (11) survived the night of February 24 when their humiliated father came home and shot wife Pratima and himself. The two children were also injured in the incident but are now recuperating at their maternal grandparents' home in Kharsia in Raigarh district.
Poonam has come to know that her parents have died, but Aryan is not aware of the reality that they will not come back to life, that he will not see his father again.
Devnarayan Patel, DSP of Jagdalpur, had hauled up a district court judge for drunken driving and was suspended after the incident. The judge had accused Patel of beating him. He was disturbed because of the incident and killed himself and his wife on 24 February.
"He had seen Devnarayan's body that night. He asks us whether his father is okay now, whether the injury on his temple is healing, whether the blood stopped oozing out from his head. We tell him that his father is on duty in Jagdalpur," Jeevan Patel, elder brother of Devnarayan, told The Pioneer.
While Aryan has recovered from the bullet injuries, Poonam still has huge progress to make. Her body above waist is in a healthy state but she has not walked since February 24. She is receiving physiotherapy.
"Poonam is acting so much mature than her age that we cannot believe. Sometimes she cries but she has never asked about her parents since she was told about their death. She has grown very protective for Aryan and takes care of him," said Jeevan. Maternal grandfather of the children, with whom they now stay, is planning to shift to Raigarh soon to give them better educational facilities.
The children had moved from Raigarh to Jagdalpur only three months before the incident. They will go back to their old school in Raigarh. Poonam will join Standard 6 while Aryan will enter Standard 2. Patel said that both the children are intelligent and are very bright in their studies.
"What happened with Poonam and Aryan was terrible and should not happen to any child. We are a large family and we will take care of them together. But I fret about the day when we will have to tell little Aryan the truth. It will break his heart," said Jeevan.