'Stomach doesn't listen to us, Sir'

It was Thursday (May 21) noon. A minor girl and her mother were seen to beg for help to people in front of Poet Sufia Kamal hall of Dhaka University. Due to her physical disability, she along with her daughter named Khushi, sitting nearby footpath, kept saying, "Stomach doesn't listen to us, Sir. Sir, go give us something."

When approached, the 6-year-old girl said, "Sir, will you give me something? I have no father. My mother is sick. There is no food at home. I am begging in the streets. I buy foods with the money I get all day and eat those with my sick mother."

When asked about the name of the child's mother, she covered her face with a cloth in shame. She kept saying, "I could not even think that I along with my daughter would beg for help in the streets like this. It has been six months since her husband left her. I used to work at the homes of others. Work has come to a stop due to coronavirus."

When asked about her whereabouts, she said, "I live in the slum of Bangabazar Railway Colony. Everyone knows me by the name of Khushi's mother. I have to pay Tk 2,000 per month as house rent. But I could not pay it for the last two months. No one even has given us relief. How to live. What will I feed my little daughter. I am getting sicker and sicker thinking these things."

Hazrat Mia, a local resident of Bangabazar, said, “Many more people have started begging in the Dhaka University area like Khushi's mother. Especially, they take up this profession because of coronavirus. But I have not seen these faces even a few days ago."

Abul Hasan, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Shahbagh Police Station, told risingbd: "Many rootless and floating people are being given cooked foods every day in the Dhaka University area. But it is not possible to give it to everyone."

Maksud/AI