Boy's heartbreaking photo raises Dh158,000 in one day

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Boys heartbreaking photo raises Dh158,000 in one day

New Delhi - The picture was taken moments before Anil was cremated.

By Web Report

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Published: Wed 19 Sep 2018, 10:33 AM

Last updated: Wed 19 Sep 2018, 3:36 PM

The tragic death of a sewer worker and the painful picture of his 11-year-old son weeping next to his dead body moved hearts of Indian social media users to raise over $43,829 (Dh158,000 approx) for his family in a day.  
27-year-old Anil from Delhi died when the rope lowering him into a sewer snapped, causing him to fall inside.
The picture was taken moments before Anil was cremated and was shared on Twitter over 7,000 times. 

According to estimates, about 100 sewer workers die in India every year due to the absence of proper safety equipment as alleged by unions. However, Anil's death received widespread attention online after a reporter at the Hindustan Times, Shiv Sunny, tweeted the heartrending picture on Monday. 
Revealing that he was 'shaken' by the sight of the man's grieving son, Sunny said, "I am a crime reporter and I have seen a lot of tragedy. But this was something I had never seen." 
Sunny captured the family's plight in the photo and wrote on Twitter: 'The boy walked up to his father's body at a crematorium, moved the sheet from the face, held the cheeks with both hands, just said 'papa' & began sobbing'. "I just wanted to draw attention to the deaths of sewer workers."
He added the family could not even pay for cremation and had been helped by neighbours. They had also told him that Anil's four-month-old son had died a week earlier from pneumonia, as he did not have the money to buy medicines. 
The grieving boy said that he would sometimes accompany his father to work and 'wait outside guarding his clothes and shoes against thieves.'
"My father would say it still wasn't yet time for me to enter the sewers," the boy told the Hindustan Times.
Sunny's tweet also drew attention to the Uday Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that stepped in to raise funds with the help of Ketto, a crowdfunding platform. "That was totally unexpected," Sunny said on the massive help that poured in online. 
The reporter added that while even Bollywood actors extended help, what was really moving was that poorer people came forward to donate small amounts.


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