Little Adeeba, who lost her family in Jammu road accident, melt hearts on net

As Adeeba lies in on a hospital bed with her left hand in bandages and multiples injuries, the three-year-old doesn’t know she has many well-wishers.

The little girl lost her parents and two brothers in Monday’s road accident in Kishtwar and is being treated for injuries on her head, face and legs in the Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu.

Many netizens and NGOs have come forward to adopt the child, whose father was a labourer, as her story went viral on the internet.

On Monday morning, Adeeba along with her parents Mohammed Akhter, Ruksana Begum and two brothers was on board the minibus that plunged into a deep gorge. At least 35 passengers, including her family, were killed and 17 others injured in the accident.

“The little girl doesn’t know about the tragedy. Her father was a poor labourer. There are no survivors in her family now. She lost her parents and two brothers,” Adeeba’s uncle Fareed Ahmed said.

Ahmed said that human life doesn’t hold any importance for the government.

“Roads are dilapidated in our area and overloading is a norm. None from the traffic police department and other law enforcing agencies check overloading,” he added.

Ahmed himself a poor man does not know what will happen to his niece.

“Her entire family has been wiped out and this little girl, who doesn’t know to speak and walk properly at such a tender age of just three years, may perhaps know after some years about how she lost her entire family,” Zakir Hussain, another relative, said.

Social activist Mohinderjeet Singh expressed concerns over the fate of the child.

“Who will take her responsibility? I squarely blame the insensitive administration, which has orphaned this child. Now, it becomes the responsibility of the administration to shoulder the responsibility of this little soul,” he said.

Singh said that since adoption laws were cumbersome, the administration should do everything possible for the child to get adopted and ensure that she was raised properly.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has announced Adeeba will be taken care of financially and socially for “a secure and healthy childhood”. The governor has announced Adeeba will get Rs 2 lakh as a solatium from the Regional Red Cross, which will be put in a bank as fixed deposit.

“Beyond this human gesture, Hon’ble Governor has also announced monthly assistance of Rs 1200 per month, for the next 15 years, to be credited in the account of the girl child. This assistance will be over and above the normal ex-gratia compensation announced by the Government,” a release from Malik’s office said.

It also said that Kishtwar’s additional deputy commissioner will act as Adeeba’s local guardian till she is an adult. She will also be given social and financial assistance through the Integrated Child Protection Scheme.

“District Administration, in consultation with civil society, shall ensure that a permanent caregiver shall also be identified for her upbringing in a healthy, conducive and amenable environment,” the release added.