Bihar: Migrants’ kid dies as father hunts for milk at railway station
MUZAFFARPUR (BIHAR): The four-and-a-half-year-old son of Bihari migrants based in Delhi died at the railway station here on arrival by a 'Shramik Special' train, while his father desperately hunted for some milk he believed will save his child.
Maqsood Alam alias Mohd Pintu, the bereaved father, worked as a house painter until the Coronavirus-induced lockdown rendered him jobless and drove him to penury, forcing the family to leave their rented home in a Delhi slum and head home after selling off their meagre belongings.
Accompanied by wife Zeba and son Ishaq, Alam had started the journey with some excitement, trying to forget the travails of the past and hoping to reach his native place in West Champaran district on Monday, the day Eid would be celebrated.
The child had fallen ill, apparently because of oppressive heat. By the time our train reached Muzaffarpur junction his condition had deteriorated considerably. I ran pillar to post searching for some milk for my son.
The administration took too
long to respond and the child
lost the battle for life, alleged Alam.
We saw the prospect of reaching home on Eid as a good omen. Who knew that God had something else in store for us, said the griefstricken father, his wife still in a state of shock and unable to speak. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Railway, Ramakant Upadhyay, however, claimed the boy was ailing for some time and had died before the train reached Muzaffarpur station.
The family boarded a Danapur-bound train and the boy, who was apparently in poor health for some time, fell seriously ill on board. From Danapur they took one of the intra-state trains, headed for Sitamarhi, which was to make a stopover at Muzaffarpur junction.
"The child had died before the train pulled up at the platform here and we rushed as soon as we got information, Upadhyay said.
He said arrangements were made for the fami
ly's journey to West Champaran by the administration, which also made an ex-gratia payment.