India, Aug. 26 -- Government apathy has snuffed out the life of a 15-year-old boy who fell into an open drain in the national Capital four days ago, and his body was found on Tuesday. It was all the more heart-wrenching to see his distraught father clearing the trash with his hands, saying that if this garbage is removed, my son will be found. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's announcement to suspend a junior MCD engineer for alleged dereliction of duty is of little solace to the deceased's family.

The image will not leave Delhi easily. A man on his knees at the edge of a filthy drain, pushing aside sodden garbage with his bare hands, convinced that somewhere beneath the debris his son was waiting to be found. Awadhesh Kumar was not trained f...