Kids should live playfully and not die like this:fire victim's father

After 14 years of marriage andgiving birth to three stillborn foetuses, Hirkanya Bhanarkar(39) had finally conceived and given birth to a girl onJanuary 6, only to lost her in the fire at the Bhandarahospital in Maharashtra on Saturday.

''Such thing should not happen to anyone....Childrenshould live and should be playing,'' Hirkanya's husband HiralalBhanarkar told reporters outside Akoli Public Health Centre(PHC) in Bhandara district on Sunday night while struggling tosuppress his wails.

The detached words of Hiralal sounded like he washysterical and was struggling to regain his composure, naturalfor a man who eagerly waited for his bundle of joy for 14 longyears, and when he was yearning to caress the baby girl, sheis gone for ever.

Hirkanya, who is currently admitted in the PHC, is toodazed to speak.

''She is in deep shock'', a nurse told a news channel.

The labourer couple hails from Usgaon village inSakoli tehsil of Bhandara district.

Hirkanya gave birth to a girl on January 6 at theSakoli sub-district hospital.

''However, as the girl was born premature in theseventh month of Hirkanya's pregnancy and underweight, she wasshifted to the Special Newborn Care Unit of Bhandara districthospital on the same day,'' the nurse said.

According to her, the poor couple didn't have a toiletat their house, which was the cause of the girl's prematurebirth.

''The mother fell down while she was attending anature's call, which led to the premature delivery. Had it notbeen for this accident, the girl would have born healthy aftertwo months,'' she said.

Besides the daughter of the Bhanarkars, nine otherbabies perished in the fire that broke out on early hours ofSaturday at the Special Newborn Care Unit of the four-storeyeddistrict hospital.