Heartbreaking photo of boy sobbing next to father’s body raises Rs 30 lakh in day

A heartbreaking photograph of a boy sobbing next to his father’s body, which went viral on social media, moved Indians to raise over Rs three million for his family in a single day. The picture was retweeted more than 7,000 times on Twitter.

Identified Anil, the 27-year-old labourer, had died while cleaning a sewer in Delhi on Friday. Anil’s family is very poor and they could not even afford the cremation costs. A week ago, Anil’s four-month-old son had also died from pneumonia as he didn’t have money to buy medicines for him.

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The photo, which was clicked by a journalist named Shiv Sunny just before Anil’s cremation, shows his 11-year-old son weeping in grief.

“He 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' and began sobbing,” Sunny 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.

The man was yet another poor labourer who died in a Delhi sewer on Friday. Family did not have money even for cremating him. pic.twitter.com/4nOWD9Aial

— Shiv Sunny (@shivsunny) September 17, 2018

The journalist’s tweet also drew the attention of Uday foundation – a non-governmental organisation. The NGO then stepped in to raise funds with the help of Ketto - a crowdfunding platform. People were moved by the photo and helped generously.

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