Imphal, December 07 2008: It was a pleasant evening with fine weather on October 24 in a quarter at Siliguri army post.

Aphuna Golmei, then in the advanced stage of pregnancy, was eagerly waiting the arrival of her husband Robert and mother Thingailiu Gonmei from Manipur.

But it turned out that the pleasant weather was only a camouflage of the impending doom waiting to unfold the next moment.

Soon a terrible news shattered all her hopes and tragedy struck her life pushing her into an abyss.

Indeed it was a double tragedy for the young woman and her unborn child.

One may call it destiny or man made tragedy, her unborn child and its elder sister Marina, now three years old, were destined not see their father ever again.

Oblivious to the cruel incident of the previous night, the young mother was waiting for the return of her husband and mother with a yearning never known in her life earlier.

But her beloved husband and mother had already fallen victim to the arson committed by the KLO/KLA the previous night at Lahorijan, Assam.

Scores of other passengers also suffered injuries when the KLO/KLA set afire an inter-State bus while the passengers were aboard.

As it turned out today, the victims of the bestial crime were not only Robert and Thingailiu but young Aphuna Golmei and her two small kids as well.

One only imagine their ordeal and pain.

Left to herself, Aphuna returned to her birth place with her mother in-law Dongrinjinliu together with Marina and 27 days old Robertson today.

On reaching Imphal, the young widow narrated about her woeful life after the death of husband and mother.

"The news of their death was like the most dreaded nightmare coming true.

My heart broke into pieces never to heal again.

I just could not bear the loss of two lives whom I loved the most in the whole world at the same time", Aphuna recounted.

Robertson was born in the hospital of Silliguri army post.

Friends and dear ones of Robert suggested that the child be named Robertson in memory of his father whom he would never see in this world, the young mother recalled.

I realised the irreplaceable places occupied by a husband and mother in the life of a woman only after I lost them both.

"It was because of this intimate bond that I waited for my husband and mother with all the eagerness.

They came to me hurriedly for they too loved me most dearly but they fell into the hands of those men who do not have any feeling or sense of humanity", Aphuna said.

With a voice choked with emotion, Aphuna prayed that the cruel incident that shattered her family may be the last of such criminal acts.

With the man of her life dead, it remains a big question about the future of Aphuna and her two kids.

The young woman is now in total darkness on how to scrape a living for her family.

Meanwhile, the Rongmei Lu Phuam president Panti Golmei has decried the failure of the State Government to provide any assistance to the victims of the Lahorijan incident till date.