Abandoned, she fights disease and loneliness

CHANDIGARH: Eyes bright with unshed tears, Rupa, 15, stares at the door next to her hospital bed. She knows no one is going to walk in, but she wills someone, anyone, to come. Its lunch time and she sees family members of patients fussing over them. Alone, eating feels like a chore to her, just another tick mark on the checklist. But she forces the food down her throat, as her vulnerability wells up in the tears that finally fall.
Rupa was admitted at Government Medical College and Hospital, 32, for treatment of tuberculosis by the Child Commission for Protection of the Child Rights (CCPCR). But she seems to be in a limbo now, with nowhere to go and no one to go to. The fact that she is alone is evident in the fact that no one visits her. The doctors are not discharging her as they feel she does not have a shelter. Officials at the social welfare department are reluctant to move her to Snehalaya as they fear that other children could catch her TB. But attending doctors have ruled out the possibility of infection.
"We are ready to discharge her if she has a home which we shall inspect for hygiene and proper care. The social welfare department has told us that the girl will be shifted to Snehalaya. But she is still with us," said Dr Ravi Jindal, orthopaedic at GMCH.
Rupa lost her mother to cancer recently and has an alcoholic father. "My father stopped visiting me after I was rescued by UT officials. I want to go home," said Rupa.
The social welfare department is supposed to have an attendant for Rupa, but that is only on paper. It is the patients around who help her in her weakened state. "We try to help her by doing things, even taking her to the washroom. She always cries and misses her family," said Rajbir, relative of a patient next to Rupa.
When the social welfare department was informed about her, secretary, social welfare Bhawna Garg said, "We can offer her financial support and provide attendants. Parents should be responsible and not abandon such children," said Garg.
"We are following her case closely," said Devi Sirohi, chairperson, Chandigarh Commission for Protection of Child Rights.