Iwas about 30 years old in December 1984 and had rarely crossed the threshold of my family home. But ever since the tragedy, I have been running from pillar to post to seek justice, not for myself, but for others like me.
When the gas leaked, we were 15 people sleeping in a room seven feet by eight feet. Ours was a joint family. Those days we lived in the Budhwara locality of Bhopal, about 3 km from the Union Carbide factory.
Soon we heard screams. We opened the door and saw people running. They were coughing so badly that they were not even able to talk.
We too ran. After about a kilometre, I sat down. My eyes were inflamed. My lungs felt as if they were filled with red chillies.
At about 4 am, the police told us to go back home. But we decided to get out of the city and go to our village. On the way all I could see was dead bodies.
On the highway trucks and minibuses were carrying people out of the city. The people just looked at the direction in which the vehicles were headed and jumped in. Many even reached as far as Jhansi (over 200 km away).
No one was concerned with what the others were doing. It was only after the situation subsided that people started looking for their near and dear ones. Many lost their children.
Five children and two adults were missing from my family. We decided to look for them in hospitals, but with no luck. The doctors said we could look for them among the dead. There were bodies everywhere, stacked on top of each other.
One policeman said, "You may not be able to find them. They may be dead. Why don't you take Rs 70,000? Rs 10,000 per missing person?"
By then the government had announced Rs 10,000 for the next of kin of those missing. But we said no. We were not prepared to accept that they were dead.
The next day we found all of them alive in a hospital. But five of them have died since then of cancer. One of my nephews was six months old the night the gas leaked. By 14, he developed a neurological disorder.
Likewise, the life of the other members of my family has been ruined.
The government did nothing. My family members, including my husband, are proud that I am fighting for the rights of so many.
As told to Ipsha | Photograph: Pradeep Kumar