Zurafa waits for mum, unaware she’s dead
Five-year-old Zurafa Shenaz Begum is still waiting for her mother, Shelin Begum, to return home.
Her family members do not know how to tell her that her mother will never return home.
Ms Begum, 28, a single mother, drowned in the Kumkum River in Ba on Sunday evening after going for a swim with friends.
Her family of Tavarau in Ba is still coming to terms with her death, but Zurafa is unaware of her mother’s whereabouts and is still waiting for her to return home.
Ms Begum’s mother, Shamshad Bi, is still in shock with disbelief over the incident.
Ms Bi said that her granddaughter was still in hope that her mother would return.
She said Zurafa insisted on sleeping with her mother’s shawl just the night before the incident.
“She slept with it for the entire night not knowing what lay ahead,” said Ms Bi.
“She is still walking around the compound not knowing that her mother is gone. “How do we convince her that she is not returning?”
Ms Bi said she last saw Ms Begum on Thursday last week after which she went for work assisting a family at the Riverside Carnival in Ba. “She called me to have breakfast with her before she left the house,” said Ms Bi. “I told her to return to me and I kept on waiting.” Ms Begum continued working for a family at the carnival grounds and on Sunday evening her friends decided to go for a swim. Shamim Mohammed, Ms Begum’s mother, said he was shocked to hear about the incident. “It was around 6.30pm on Sunday when I was informed about it,” he said.
Mr Mohammed said he then went to the river where the incident occurred.
He said Police officers and divers were at the scene looking for his sister.
But it was around 7.30am yesterday (Monday) when he finally saw his sister.
“I had come to the river early in the morning,” he said
“Seeing her floating lifelessly in the river at low tide was something that I will never forget,” said Mr Mohammed. He recalled the last conversation he had with her sister last Saturday night.
Mr Mohammed had taken Zurafa to the carnival where she had been working.
“She kissed her daughter and was really happy that night,” he said. Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro confirmed that a woman in her 20s who went missing while swimming on Sunday had been found. A post-mortem examination would be undertaken to find out the cause of the death.
Edited by Epineri Vula