At the colony in Bhalswa where five members of a family were killed in a fire, in New Delhi on Monday.Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/kalam-defied-family-to-marry-visuallychallenged-woman/article7910202.ece
For Mohammad Kalam, it was love at first sight, as soon as he was introduced to visually-challenged Rabina. Her visual impairment was not a bar for him and he promised an orphaned Rabina’s aunt that he would hold her hand at every step. But, Kalam’s family disapproved of the marriage, Rabina’s aunt Asha Khatoon, told The Hindu . Seeking livelihood, the couple had landed in Delhi over a decade ago. While Kalam worked as a labourer, Rabina would sometimes even seek alms to feed her four children, the youngest of who was only eight months old. However, a fire cut short the lives of five of the family members on Monday. “The couple had nothing with them when they landed in Delhi. I gave them utensils,” said Khatoon. They first lived in another part of Bhalswa Dairy when another fire, several years ago, left them with nothing. “Kalam and Rabina were away from home when their rented room was first burgled and then set on fire by unknown persons,” said Khatoon. The family began life afresh by setting up a jhuggi alongside three others at one corner of the JJ Colony. Locals said Rabina did her best to not let her visual disability come in the way of running her little house and looking after her children. “She did all household work on her own and cooked all dishes, except rotis. She could not roll rotis because of her blindness,” said her neighbour Saira Biwi, also blind in one eye. “Only last night she was pestering me and my family to accompany her and her children to a mela in Swaroop Nagar as her husband needed to attend work and was unable to spare time,” said her neighbour Mohammad Bablu. Of late, thieves had been taking advantage of Rabina’s blindness. This is being cited by her neighbours as an important reason why the family could not escape to safety when their house burnt. “In Kalam’s absence, some thieves had been regularly entering his jhuggi and making away with cash and other items. The family would complain of theft almost every 15-20 days,” said Saira. This had prompted Kalam to use a lock to secure his house even while the family slept inside at night. It is suspected that Kalam was possibly unable to locate the lock’s key in the darkness. Saira said even Kalam had been slowly losing his eyesight for a year or so. Meanwhile, the accident drew Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to the spot as he met the four affected families and assured them of proper houses. He also announced a compensation of Rs.2 lakh for each of the adults and Rs.1 lakh for the children killed in the fire. This Rs.8 lakh would be spent for the deceased couple’s nine-year-old daughter who survived. The other homeless families would be provided Rs.25,000 each. On 11/24/15, avinash shahi <[email protected]> wrote: > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Blind-woman-failed-to-find-her-way-out-Cops/articleshow/49898951.cms > NEW DELHI: Kalam or his family members could have escaped the fire had > the door of his hutment not been locked from inside, said police. His > blind wife Rabina was burnt to death, along with their infant son, > whom she was holding close to her chest. > > Cops said she probably failed to find her way out of the burning > jhuggi as her husband and other kids lay unconscious on the floor > after the fire broke early on Monday. > > The family hailed from Madhubani in Bihar. While Kalam worked at > construction sites, Rabina used to beg in neighbouring localities to > support her family. According to police, there had been a theft in > their jhuggi a few months ago. Since then Kalam used to keep the entry > of the shanty locked from inside. > > "This might have proved costly for the family. The location of the > charred bodies suggests that probably it was only the woman who had > woken up while others had fallen unconscious due to suffocation. > However, it seemed she could not raise an alarm and died, along with > her infant son," said a senior police officer. > > Their relatives said that the couple had left behind a daughter, the > eldest among the children, who lives in their native village. The > family earlier lived near Nizamuddin and shifted to northwest Delhi a > few years ago. Kalam's elder brother, Mohammed Alam (45), a painter, > stays in Sarai Kale Khan. > > "It was around 4am when I got a phone call from one of their > neighbours and rushed to their house. On reaching there, I found my > brother and his entire family dead. Fire and police officials were on > the spot and the bodies had been taken to hospital. I have lost half > my family. He was youn > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
