A mother’s elegy: How poverty made her daughter jump into Jhelum

Srinagar, Dec 16: Inside a ramshackle room, Fareeda Begum sings a heart-wrenching elegy for her 15-year-old daughter who jumped into Jhelum a few days ago. Every eye became moist when Farida started recounting the crisis the family faced. A group of women tried hard to console her but to no avail.

A few hundred meters away, hundreds of people are lining up on both sides of Jhelum praying for early recovery of the body. Some recite verses of the holy Quran, some offer Namaz. All trying hard to find the body of a Class IX student who ended her life because of poverty and illness.

It has been nine years since the family has been pushed to the margins due to poverty. Fareeda’s husband was the sole breadwinner. A driver by profession, he died in an accident leaving behind his wife and three children. His elder daughter is pursuing graduation and the lone son is suffering from chronic kidney disease. 

“We have been trying hard to help out the family. This cousin of mine was very sensitive. She was not able to share her woes. Her brother is bedridden. He is suffering from Hydronephrosis and needs an immediate kidney transplant. Doctors told us to wait for a transplant. Later she also fell ill. She was worried how the family could cope with two people with severe illness,” Shahnaz Shafi Khuroo, cousin of the teenager, told The Kashmir Monitor.

Unable to cope with the family pressure, the girl slipped into depression. “They were facing a financial crisis. Friends, relatives, and others were trying their best to help them out. But they could do it to a certain extent. The family did not have money for the kidney transplant of the son. It all led to distress. And she became the casualty,” said Khuroo.

The death of a young girl has sparked anger across Kashmir with people questioning societal indifference and apathy. “It is a matter of great sadness. Shame should be on those people who live near them, shame on them, Allah will catch them tomorrow,” said one social media user.

“Facebook pe sab mufti aur social activist banne firte hain, including me but when it comes to ground reality we act as deaf/dumb/blind… Kuch dinu mai sab bhool jayenge gai and everything will be Normal for everyone as it was before her death,” said another

Waking up to the crisis, people have now started a drive to collect money for the family. Bank accounts have been published and people have been asked to donate generously. 

Fareeda too has issued an appeal to the government to provide a job to one of her kids. “They are both educated. I appeal to the administration to help us out provide some livelihood to one of my kids,” she said.