In the depths of India's illegal mica mines, where children as young as five work alongside adults, lurks a dark, hidden secret - the cover-up of child deaths
Vasdev Rai Pratap's 16-year-old son Madan was killed in a mica mine along with two other adult workers in the state of Jharkhand on June 23.
"I didn't know how dangerous the work in the mines is. Had I known, I would never have let him go," said Pratap, sitting on a charpoy - a traditional woven bed - outside his home, surrounded by friends and family who had come to mourn the teen's death.
"They said it took almost a day to dig out his body after the mine collapsed. They cremated him without telling me. I didn't even see my boy before they set him alight."
His son is one of seven children found to have been killed in the past two months alone mining for mica, a crystalline mineral used to put the sparkle in lipstick, eye shadows and car paint.
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