Kanjirappally: It seemed the end of the road for Babitha and her daughter Saiba when they were thrown out of their ramshackle excuse for a house after a court ruling. Tuesday, however, dawned of them with a bit of encouraging visits.
Court orders eviction: bedridden woman, teen daughter out in the street in Kanjirappally
Soon after the sorry state of the bedridden woman and her teenage daughter was reported in Manorama on Tuesday, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan called up the Kottayam district collector and ordered to pay urgent financial aid to the family. Tehsildar Jose George and village officer Jayaprakash visited Babitha in the hospital she was admitted to and handed over Rs 10,000 to her.
Hands to help
The civil society also rose to the occasion. The crew members of a Malayalam movie titled Take Off were among the first to react. Producer Anto Joseph, director Mahesh Narayanan, actors Kunchacko Boban, Fahadd Faasil and Parvathy offered financial assistance to the evicted family.
Joseph said he would go to Kanjirappally along with the actors to hand over Rs 5 lakh to Babitha on March 24, the day the movie was scheduled to release.
Succor poured in from many parts of the country and abroad. Babitha was flooded with visitors at the General Hospital at Kanjirappally. Even the Kanjirappally police, who were ordered by a munsiff to evacuate the ailing mother and daughter from their house by Monday afternoon, offered their support to the family. Sub inspector A.S. Ansil visited the woman at the hospital and gave her Rs 2,000 for her expenses.
Dr N. Jayaraj MLA, panchayat president Shakila Nazeer and block panchayat member P.A. Shemir also visited Babitha. Saiba’s teachers at the St Ephrem’s School also visited the girl and her mother. Principal Lovely Antony and class teacher Praveen Kumar assured the family of all support.
Several associations including Janaseva Sisu Bhawan in Ernakulam, the Navajeevan Trust in Kottayam, the Muslim Girls’ and Women’s Movement in Kannur and the Peter Foundation in Pala have offered to take care of the family.
The family which lost their only asset to a court order in favor of a relative who staked claim to it, was even offered a piece of land to build a house. Cheriyan Varghese Valiyakandathil from Chengaroor near Mallappally, a member of the Pathanamthitta District Congress Committee, said he was ready to give away three cents of land at Chengaroor for the family to build a house if they were interested. DCC president Babu George offered to lead the efforts to build a house if the family took up the offer.
Kollam Puthoor Rotary Club offered the family a house in the upcoming Rotary Village in the Pavithreswaram panchayat, president Vinod Kumar and secretary Mathews Thomas Mullikkattil said.
Rotary district governor Dr John Daniel offered to build a house for the family either at Kanjirappally or Erattupetta.
The Kanjirappally Nainar Masjid central jamaat also started an initiative to help out the family and support the girl complete her education. The jamaat has found a house for the family to live for the time being. Babitha will move into the house with her daughter once she is discharged from the hospital.
Jamaat president Abdul Salam Parakkal visited Babitha at the hospital and assured her that efforts were on to buy a piece of land for the family and build a house for them with the support of all the people in the area.
Bank account details
A joint account in the name of Babitha and Abdul Salam Parakkal has been opened with the Kanjirapply branch of Indian Bank for the purpose (Account No. 6514011290, IFSC IDIB000K277).
The jamaat was also looking at projects to ensure Babitha a sustained livelihood.
The Kerala Youth Front (M) offered to raise Rs 1 lakh for the educational expenses of Saiba, its state president Saji Manjakkadamban said after visiting Babitha.