Newspaper vultures termed Sonia Gandhi’s dead new-born a ‘bastard child’

Sonia Gandhi shares the heartbreaking loss of her premature firstborn son in her new memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.

HarperCollins released the deeply personal book across bookstores on Tuesday.

A Brief Joy

In September 1968, Sonia announced her first pregnancy to the Gandhi household.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hugged her daughter-in-law and celebrated the joyful news.

Sonia delivered a baby boy two months early on January 18, 1969.

Doctors placed the tiny infant inside an incubator immediately after birth.

Rajiv and Sonia admired their newborn son and fell in love with him instantly.

Sudden Tragedy

The next morning at 6:30 AM, Rajiv gently informed Sonia that their baby had died.

The devastated couple held each other tightly and wept over their sudden loss.

Indira Gandhi cut her official tour short and rushed to comfort the grieving parents.

Final Rites in Mehrauli

Hindu tradition forbids the cremation of newborns and requires river immersion instead.

Sonia firmly refused to release her tiny child into the river.

Instead, Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi buried the infant at Feroze Gandhi’s Mehrauli farmhouse.

They placed him beneath a blooming pink bougainvillea bush near the boundary wall.

Malicious Attacks and Healing

A right-wing newspaper later published a cruel, malicious attack mocking the couple’s tragedy.

Those spiteful words deeply scarred Sonia and worsened her feelings of guilt.

Eventually, the sorrow lifted when she conceived again and birthed Rahul in June 1970.