The sight of a toddler trying to wake up his dead mother in a railway station in Bihar earlier this week, shook the collective conscience of the nation. Fifteen-month-old Rahmat had thought that his mother—Avreena Khatoon—was alive.
Avreena, 35, from Marandangi village in Katihar district of Bihar, died on board the Sharmik special train, that arrived in Muzaffarpur in Bihar from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, on May 25. While her family alleged that she died of hunger and heat in the train, the Railways said Avreena was ill several days prior to the journey.
THE WEEK spoke to Kanwal Tanuj, the district magistrate of Katihar, to find out more about Avreena and her family, and how they are coping with the situation. Excerpts:
How did Avreena die?
We are still waiting for the final postmortem report. The initial finding is that she died out of hunger and severe heat in train, en route to Katihar from Ahmedabad.
Do you blame the Railways for it?
As the district magistrate I cannot blame another government agency. We are awaiting the final postmortem report. Let us wait.
How are the children of Avreena coping? What is the government doing to help them?
Both her children are ignorant of what is happening around them. I got the chance to meet Rahmat (the 15-month-old boy seen in the video), and his elder brother Arman (four years old). They are living with Avreena's parents. They don't know that their mother is dead. My team is visiting them regularly. We have given the family Rs 20,000 from the mukhyamantri parivarik labh yojana of the state government. The district administration has issued a sanction order under the sponsorship and foster care scheme for both the children, under which, Rs 2,000 for each child shall be transferred every month in the account of Avreena's parents who are looking after the children now. The first instalment of Rs 4,000 has already been transferred. The state government is planning to build a new house for the deceased's parents under a housing scheme. We had earlier asked the grandparents to get the children admitted to a children's village nearby. However, they were unwilling. The two children have now been enrolled in an anganwadi centre nearby. Nutrition supplements for this month have been provided to the guardians. Both children have been given ration cards, and 10kg of food items for this month have been given free of cost. We will continue to provide all possible help to Avreena's parents under existing schemes.
What about Avreena's husband?
She was married to man from Bareily in Uttar Pradesh five years ago. They got divorced a year ago. Avreena was given 'triple talaq' (divorce) over the phone. There was no attempt on the part of that person to find out about the family's condition now. They have separated. Even the deceased's family is not in touch with him.
Across the country, there are so many who are helping migrants reach home. Can they reach out to Avreena's family?
Yes, of course. Anybody is free to visit Avreena's family and help them. The district administration of Kathiar should be informed about their visit to Avreena's house so that we are sure there is no attempt to dupe the family. Anyone can help them in any manner. The district administration will help them reach out to the family.
They are free to help other migrants from our district who are facing similar problems but haven't got media attention.
What is being done to make sure that such incidents don't happen again?
No person has died out of hunger in Bihar. The state government and the district administration have always helped people in need. These deaths are happening because of the peculiar situation prevalent in the country now. So many migrants are coming from distant places, and are travelling in trains and buses. The deaths are happening en-route their journey. We don't see such incidents happening otherwise in Bihar.
Will the help that the families of migrants like Avreena are getting now last for long? Or will they be conveniently forgotten in the years to come?
These are government schemes and the children and the parents of the deceased will benefit from it till they are alive. We are also assisting the family in constructing a pucca house. So, such benefits are there forever. As long as these schemes remain, they will be benefited.
