``No, looking at the way we have been treated by the society after the death of the boys, we know nothing has changed,'' cried a hopeless Lakhmiben, a widow whose son Prakash was one of the deceased.

Family members neither expect a compensation, nor do they have any hope that the guilty will ever be brought to the book. The police have registered a case of accidental death allegedly refusing to register the family's complaint and the Civil Hospital authorities treated the corpses like animals. ``Nobody even cared to inform us of the deaths,'' said Lakhmiben.

Bhangivaas, where the deceased cousins Prakash and Dahyabhai lived, is a little pockmarked hutment on the outskirts of the city, in industrial Naroda. This colony of sweepers and safai workers has a population of about 250 people, and most of them are unemployed. The men try and get private sewer-cleaning jobs in the housing societies that have mushroomed in Naroda and nearby Odhav, while the women work as sweepers.

On the ill-fated night, two men, allegedly members of the Mahalaxmi Society nearby, came at 10 pm on a scooter and spoke to Prakash and Dahyabhai standing near the temple outside the colony. The young men went along, to clean an illegal underground sewer on the main road outside the housing society. Four hours later, their corpses were fished out by the fire brigade.

Naroda police registered an accidental death and had refused to lodge a complaint, until a senior police officer intervened, it was alleged. Police had accepted only a written application and not a complaint; that too after family members and friends staged a dharna. ``They told me to come next morning after knowing that I work in the same police station,'' Lakhmiben said. ``Only after the Commissioner intervened did they accept our application,'' she said. Naroda police inspector U D Parmar said the police had accepted the complaint the next day and will bring the guilty to the book. Naroda MLA Mayaben Kodnani said she was out of station when the incident occurred, while municipal councillor from the area Gautam Patel could not be contacted.

Meanwhile, Lakhmiben's elder son Govind said the two deceased had refused to go in the night for the cleaning job, but were convinced by the scooterist. He said it was impossible that the two of them could have got inside together. ``One of them must have got in and died, the other must have been forced inside,'' alleges Govind. ``He would have certainly come here and told us and not have gone in all by himself,'' he continued. Residents of Malaxmi Society refused to speak on the matter.

Well, that is not important at all, said the group gathered for some rites for the deceased. Prakash's elder brother Govind said they were saddened more by the behaviour of Civil Hospital authorities. ``The bodies lay open outside the Lal Batti in the hospital, they did not even care to cover it with a cloth,'' he said. While one of the community members said they had not been given the bodies of the deceased, Parmar said they were handed over the bodies within two days.

The post-mortem reports indicated death due to inhalation of poisonous sewer gas, the police inspector said. ``Justice will not be done,'' predicted a red-eyed Kanubhai, an elderly outspoken resident of the colony. While other members of the community spoke, Dahyabhai's widow Dinaben, a 20-year-old, remained indoors along with her children. Dahyabhai was an orphan, and so was his wife. ``Now she has to fend for her one and half year-old daughter and an eight-month-old son,'' rued Lakhmiben, Dahyabhai's aunt. ``We'll see what we can do for her,'' she said.

Prakash was married six months ago to teenaged Manjula. She stood on the threshold of their one-room hut, listening to the elders talk.