The tragic struggles of a young fighter and orphan

Dimapur, Jan. 12: The struggle of Abijeet Das, a 13 year old lad, started when he had just started learning what life was all about. Lying in a hospital bed after having survived a life-threatening accident, Das spoke about how his life came parcelled with tragedies when he was around 9 years.

Abijeet Das is from Bashari village in Jorhat in Assam. He lost his parents when he was just 9 years of age after which he was taken care of by his aunt, ‘Mahi’. He was living alone in Dimapur after he lost his Mahi at the Dimapur railway station on their way to Sibsagar.

Since then, he had been living a life of a rag-picker at the Dimapur railway station selling collected empty bottles and begging for food from passersby.

On the night of January 9, an accident struck. As narrated by the boy, that fatal accident occurred when he got into Rajdhani train begging for food as he had been without food for the past three days then. With the food in his hand, the boy slipped into the rail track; he was run over by the running train around 11:30 p.m., said David Thadani, who along with two other passersby rushed him to the hospital for immediate treatment.

David Thadani, a human rights lawyer at Kolkata High Court, and one Major Arun Kumar of Rangapahar under the 117 Engineer Regiment along with a man by the name Atubou rushed him to the hospital.

Major Arun Kumar, along with three jawans, having the same blood group (O+), donated three units of blood. The boy was admitted to CHISR (or ‘Referral hospital’). He is being treated by Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Keith Ingty.

In a telephonic conversation with Eastern Mirror, Dr. Ingty said that he along with a team of doctors successfully operated upon the boy. He was stated to be out of danger.

David Thadani said he was making use of the social media to inform the people about the plight of the boy. He also contacted Prodigals Home Childline which had come forward with support.

The Bengali Samaj is also said to have visited the boy at the hospital on January 10.

David Thadani, who is presently taking care of the boy, said financial support was urgently needed to meet the huge medical expenses of the boy.

Lozua Kape, Center Coordinator Childline Dimapur and his team also visited the boy. Lozua Kape also stated that the total medical expenses at the hospital would come to more than Rs 1 lakh.

One can get in touch with the hospital directly or with Childline of Dimapur or through the phone numbers 1098/ 03862-224151/ 9615297709. Any concerned citizens willing to contribute may contact the phone number 9436009366, 9862059664, 8575475997 and 9089607649 for more information.