Life could not have been more unfair to Mubina Begum, an educated woman, who is now reduced to seeking alms on the road for her daughter’s medical treatment.
On Wednesday, this hapless young woman was spotted by The Hindu, begging on the footpath abutting the newly constructed railway over-bridge at Lakdikapul. In the perambulator before her was her 13-month-old daughter Habeebunnissa, who looked extremely sick and under-aged. Two older kids played on the footpath.
“My daughter is diagnosed by doctors at Niloufer Hospital with a hole in the heart. The CT Scan, they said, will cost Rs.1,000, and more money will be needed for blood transfusion,” said Mubina, 26, showing the medical reports. Not able to find money for the treatment, she has resorted to begging on the footpath.
Incidentally, Mubina is a B.Com. graduate, married off five years ago to a worker in a hotel. Her parents died when she was a child, and she was raised by her aunt who stayed in Chandrayangutta.
Nine months ago, her husband died following complications due to excessive drinking at a party after the birth of Habeebunnissa. Mubina had little means to sustain the family on her own. Two months ago, she was thrown out of the rented house she was staying in as she was not able to pay rent. Her kith and kin too deserted her, fearing the responsibility of taking care of three kids.
“Since then I have been living in a small shack near Niloufer Hospital and begging to find money for my daughter’s treatment. I have neither the Arogyasri card, nor ration card to seek free treatment,” she said.
Mubina had worked as a sales representative before her marriage and hoped to find some work after things fell in place. Mubina has no contact number. She can be found near Niloufer Hospital in Red Hills.
