Forty-two-year old Naroo Mal Maharaj, a tailor by profession and belonging to the Hindu community, is the only bread earner of his family of seven.
He was living happily until three years ago when he suffered an attack of cerebral hemorrhage and his right limbs stopped working. After spending a few days at a local hospital, he returned home but could not continue working as a tailor.
Maharaj has now put all his hopes in his 20-year-old son Naresh Kumar.
Naresh quit studies and replaced his father as a tailor. But fate had something else in store. Within a few days of starting working, Naresh too fell ill and was diagnosed with Hepatitis-C.
The sad story did not end there. Just a few months later, his few months old son Rohit Kumar was diagnosed with congenital heart disease or simply, he had a hole in his heart.
Resident of a small village Dai in Badin district, where a Lady Health Worker (LHW) or Lady Health Visitor (LHV) rarely visited, Maharaj has no idea where to take both his sons.
With he paralyzed and having two ill children, Maharaj decided to contact faith healers to get rid of all his difficulties. While he was managing treatment of his sons and his, torrential monsoon rains in August 2011 caused breaches in Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) and flooded most of the areas in southern Sindh, with the Badin district being the worst hit.
Unfortunately, Maharaj lost his house comprising few huts.
He now lives under the open sky. One can hardly imagine the pain Maharaj must be suffering.
“I don’t want to live anymore, but my only wish is see my sons healthy, I can’t bear the pain when my younger son cries all the time and I can’t do anything for him,” he said over telephone.
His son Rohit Kuamr has to go through congenital paediatric cardiac surgery for which Maharaj has no idea how much money he needs. He asked the president of Pakistan, Sindh chief minister, Sindh health minister and other authorities to help him on humanitarian basis.
He can be contacted on cell number: 0344-3563949 and 0331-2942432.
