God couldn’t take 10-year-old Mausam Khanum’s life last week. Terrorists did on Monday.
Little Mausam was last month admitted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) with a life-threatening abdominal complication. It took a team of doctors more than two hours to help her cheat death. But not for long.
Released on Monday morning, Mausam was yearning to return to her village – Satsari village near Sipajhar in Darrang district – along with grandma Jahanara Begum (45) and uncle Rafiqul Ali (36). On way to the bus terminus, Mausam caught the impact of the blast at Maligaon Chariali.
Mausam was brought dead to the very hospital where she got a fresh lease of life only a week back. So was her grandmother while Rafiqul was lucky to survive, albeit barely. “He is battling death in the ICU,” said his younger brother Safiqul, who had come to fetch them.
Unlike Mausam, government employee Amulya Rajbongshi (46) from Tamulpur in Baska district was on his way to GMCH to be cured of chest congestion. Instead, he reached a private nursing home, unconscious on a stretcher after blast-induced splinters tore into his left leg and left hand.
“The blast occurred the moment the bus I was in reached Maligaon Chariali point,” said Rajbongshi. “I jumped out of the bus in which many people lay injured. Bleeding, I pleaded with a traffic police and sought help, but he pushed me and ran away. I lost consciousness and found myself lying in this casualty ward,” he said.
“The blast occurred the moment the bus I was in reached Maligaon Chariali point,” said Rajbongshi. “I jumped out of the bus in which many people lay injured. Bleeding, I pleaded with a traffic police and sought help, but he pushed me and ran away. I lost consciousness and found myself lying in this casualty ward,” he said.
Brothers Chandan and Gautom Deka have a similar tale to tell. Hailing from Dimu in Kamrup district, the duo had come to GMCH for treatment. They were on their way home, but the blast forced them back in GMCH. Gautom’s condition was serious.