Mumbai, Oct. 24: When Rushikesh was sandwiched between his mother and aunt on his uncle’s two-wheeler, he was thrilled. He was a big boy, so mummy wasn’t holding him in her arms like his aunt her 10-month-old baby.

Little did the three-and-a-half-year-old realise the five-in-one ride that April evening was a perfect recipe for disaster.

Today, the boy lives with a relative, probably paralysed for life. He has lost his mother and sensation in his right hand after the two-wheeler crashed on their way to a wedding.

The uncle and aunt died, too. But, like Rushikesh, the baby survived.

Be it the killer Bluelines of Delhi or the racing buses of Calcutta or the drunk drivers of Mumbai or unthinking parents, children between one and five years are among the biggest sufferers of road accidents today.

According to a survey done by the Mumbai chapter of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, children and adolescents accounted for nearly one-third of the eight lakh accident-related deaths in 2002.

Since then, the figure has steadily risen, said Anil Bhatia who has been treating at least four such children every week for the last five years. Official figures are not available.

“It’s very depressing to see children suffer so much. Most of these kids have been victims of their own parents’ negligence.”

Bhatia blamed the plight of the children on the “apathy” of parents. “They keep piling their children on two-wheelers and even in cars. Instead of paying for a taxi, they end up paying with the lives of their children.”

Rushikesh’s uncle, Pravin Patil, seemed to confirm this as he talked about the crash. “They were going to attend a marriage. These adjustments need to be made. We still do the same. Unless we have alternatives, that’s what we do.”

Bhatia said it was a pity adults did not understand the trauma such children went through. As there were no broken bones to show in many cases, unthinking adults felt all was well, he said.

“Most of my patients have lost one or both parents in the accident. So, they are left in the care of relatives who are neither emotionally attached to them nor understand their trauma.

“The relatives feel once the doctor has been called in, he will take care of the children. They don’t understand that although the kids have no broken bones, they are not fine.”

Rushikesh’s uncle, however, did not come across as uncaring. “He remembers his mother a lot. He gets nervous at the mention of the accident and doesn’t talk too much.

“He is lucky to have three older sisters to look after him. He is fine, but I don’t know what will happen to him when he grows up,” Patil said.

Psychiatrist Harish Shetty said such children usually grew to be stubborn and were prone to intense depression.

“There is also a degree of anger and sadness — anger because they have difficulty attributing the blame and sadness at losing a close family member. It’s especially difficult for them because they cannot express their suffering in words.”

Shetty said they were often confused at being “punished” for no fault of theirs.

“The suffering is worse if the child has seen the accident and a loved one die. That’s when post-traumatic stress disorder sets in.”

No study has yet been done on the extent of trauma the children suffer, though there are hundreds like Rushikesh all over the place.

An example is Swati Khare, 3, who has lost sensation in her upper limbs and tried to burn her hands to “show off” to her friends.

Another is Nishi Vyas, 5, who tried to chew her fingers because they hurt so much.