Mariyam Sukumaran who is working in Sharhah for the past 34 years does not even have a roof over her head when she goes back to Kerala.Mariyam Sukumaran has worked in Sharjah for 34 years and she is rich by Rs 700! The 65-year-old woman from Kuravilangad near Kottayam has been taking care of blind employer who can’t even pay her any wages for her services.
When Mariyam reached the emirate, her daughter was just five years old. Her husband had succumbed to an illness when she was pregnant. She eked out a living as a domestic help in Kerala and later flew to Sharjah in search of a better life.
She was led to an old villa at Hamriya to work for an Iranian woman and her son who was born blind. She was asked to take care of the blind man. She sent whatever money she received to her mother back home. She got her daughter educated with the little money she received.
Mariyam is willing to spend the rest of her life with the Iranian but health problems have been tormenting her. Everything went for a toss when the Iranian woman died. She had not left behind any money to support her blind son. Mariyam was in a crisis. She spent all her savings to marry off her daughter. That left her homeless in Kerala.
The Iranian could not afford to pay his caretaker any longer yet Mariyam decided to stay on. “He is a poor man. Even if he does not pay me, he has been nice to me. Even his mother was a good woman. He has no one to look after him after his mother’s death. He pleaded with me not to abandon him. How could I do it?” she said.
She is willing to spend the rest of her life with the Iranian but health problems have been tormenting her. She has been living with a painful kidney stone. Though the doctors have advised for a surgery, she decided against it because she did not have 5,000 dirhams to pay for the surgery.
She is living with the pain instead. More painful is the thought that she does not have a roof over her head when she goes back to Kerala.
Mariyam Sukumaran’s bank account details: Axis Bank, Kottayam; Account number - 918010034528818
Read: On a Roll | Rare dress bank comes up as cloth donors prove to be shabby
