AN INDIAN man earning just £3 a day stumbled upon a diamond worth £77,000 in a discovery that would change his life.
Raju Gond, a manual laborer living in central India, will choose any job available in his village to feed his family of nine.
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He usually earns around 350 Indian rupees a day, about £3.25, in his home state of Madhya Pradesh.
Now Raju, 40, says his family’s life has “changed forever” after he discovered the 19.22-carat diamond.
One day, he was hunting for gold with his brother when they found the jewel.
Raju and his brother Rakesh were scavenging a mine in Krishna Kalyanpur and had to pay around £7 a day to hunt for precious materials on government-owned land.
After working in mines for a decade, Raju finally stumbled upon one of the incredible stones.
He said: “My heart pounded for a moment, but I knew immediately it was a diamond as I continued to wipe away the dirt as it continued to shine.”
The brothers rushed to get home and show their family what they had found.
Raju took his mother with him to the local Panna Diamond Office to appraise the stone.
They confirmed it was a white diamond weighing 19.22 carats, with an estimated value of approximately $100,000, or £77,668.
The Panna neighborhood, where the brothers live, is known for its diamonds.
Raju quickly opened a bank account and is awaiting the flow of funds from his impressive discovery.
He plans to use it to pay off debts of around £4,600, fund his children’s education, build new housesbuy land and maybe buy a tractor.
“The huge discovery will change our lives,” he explains.
“I will first pay off debts worth around INR 5 lakh (£4,645).
“Then we will invest in the education of all children, we will build houses, we will buy some land and maybe a tractor”, he added.
Part of the money obtained from your discovery will have to go to the government, just as tax along with 11.5% royalties for employee mine owners.
Raju’s huge family comprising his parents, wife, seven children and his brother’s family will be saved from serious financial difficulties.
He plans to share the spoils with a dozen different relatives.
But even with the impressive discovery, the brothers returned to the mines just a day later to look for more diamonds.
“We will work hard to find some more,” said the two brothers.
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