Three days after their father died of coronavirus, six-year-old twins Tripti and Pari were found sleeping next to their mother, unaware that she had also become a victim. Thousands of children have lost one or both parents in the new pandemic wave ravaging India, where there were already millions of orphans. The prospect of a surge of abandoned minors worries many. Tripti and Pari, whose names have been changed, are now being cared for by their mother’s uncle, Ramesh Singh. "I keep telling the girls their parents will come home soon," said Singh, whose name has also been changed to protect the children's identities. "I don’t want to tell them the truth now... they're too young." Their heartbroken mother refused to eat properly after her husband's death, which complicated her recovery from coronavirus, Singh said. When repeated knocks on the door went unanswered, relatives threw water on the girls from a window to make them open up. They were taken away as doctors arrived to declare their mother dead. While the twins are being looked after, the pandemic - which is claiming thousands of lives a day - is leaving others without a caregiver. Such children "are not only living an...