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On a day that should have been spent ho­n­our­ing their fa­ther, Suni­ta Per­sad sang through her grief in an emo­tion­al trib­ute to her younger sis­ter, 15-year-old Ma­li­ni Per­sad, dur­ing the autis­tic teen’s fu­ner­al at their Rochard Dou­glas Road, Bar­rack­pore home yes­ter­day.

Suni­ta’s voice quiv­ered as she sang Free­dom, a song she wrote for Ma­li­ni last year.

“You are my light, you are my shad­ow, you are my every­thing in my life. I am your shad­ow, I am your light, I am your every­thing in your life,” she sang, her voice heavy with grief.