Rinki Begum was injured in Ulfa-triggered blast

Guwahati: Rinki Begum was just six years old when she was badly injured in a blast triggered by Ulfa militants in Kamrup district’s Changsari in 2005. Now, at the age of 15, she cannot even stand on her feet. With little money left to spend on treatment, she stares at a dark future. She is seeking the state government’s assistance to tide over the financial crisis.
“Splinters had hit her on the back. The lower part of her body from the waist was badly damaged leaving her paralyzed for life. All our dreams are shattered. She was good at studies and wanted to continue but it is impossible to afford her treatment any longer,” Hussain Ali, Rinki’s father, an auto-rickshaw driver told TOI. Her mother Mofizon Begum was injured too.
A local MLA arranged the money for her initial treatment, but later declined to help her further. “Owing to financial crunch, I could not do anything for my daughter in the past nine years. It hurts to see her struggling like this. I even cannot afford to buy a wheel chair. I took her to Patna for treatment. The doctors there said it would cost around Rs 6 lakh to cure my girl,” Ali added.
Rinki continued her studies for one year after the accident. Her father used to carry her to school, but that was not possible for Ali as she grew up.
Hapless Rinki, who wants to become a renowned personality by studying hard and help the needy, now sits in a corner of her house and expresses her feelings on a piece of paper.
“I like watching cartoons on television. I wish I could go to schools and study like my friends. Some of my friends visit me and tell me their stories at school,” rued an emotional Rinki. She condemned all sorts of terror activities mentioning the recent Taliban attack on schools in Pakistan’s Peshawar.
Akdas Ali Mir, a senior advocate of Gauhati high court has provided a ray of hope to Rinki and her family as he has decided to file a PIL appealing the government to bear the expenses of the girl’s treatment. “It was shocking to see the plight of the family. She has no fault and yet has to suffer just because of some mindless act of violence of militants,” said Mir.