V Maruthai and V Punitha Devi, aged 39 and 32, (both are sisters) married to the same man, Vijayan, who is now languishing in prison and details of when he will be released or how long will his sentence last, whatsoever is not known by any of them. Neither of their marriages was legally registered. Maruthai has eight children ages 4 to 20. She applied for Birth Certificates for four of her eight children—Sangeetha (17), Sugentran (16) Abrirami (13), and Darshini (4). Her younger sister, Punitha Devi, has three children ages 10 to 13. She also applied for Birth Certificates for two of her three children—Sathia Seelan (13) and Vigneswaran (12). Due to the BC-less and IC-less problems, none of these children have ever set foot in secondary school. On September 26, 2010 the National Registration Department rejected their applications on the ‘lamest excuse’ of them not having the ‘right witness’ to certify the birth of their children.
