India’s Covid orphans: What happens to children who lose their parents to the virus?

The scale of devastation wrought by India’s second wave, tearing through entire families, is such that untold numbers of children are being left extremely vulnerable. Shweta Sharma in Delhi hears from those trying to help

India accounted for about 50 per cent of global coronavirus cases last week, the World Health Organisation said (AFP via Getty Images)

More than 230,000 people in India have now died with the coronavirus. These are not the only victims of the pandemic that is still devastating the country, however. Behind each number, there is another story of loss and devastation among loved ones who survived.

In Delhi, NGO workers tell The Independent, there is the case of a 14-year-old boy whose mother, father, grandfather and uncle all died from Covid-19. The teenager will now be brought up by his classmate’s family, who agreed to foster him.

With the country pounded by a second wave of the virus that appears to be increasingly affecting young people, there is a growing awareness of the haunting phenomenon of the “Covid orphan”, with activists, NGOs, and child rights workers fielding a deluge of calls every day about new cases. These are calls for help for children whose lives will never be the same, even after this wave is over and the world for most people returns to normal.