<i>Cashing in on kid's physical deformity</i>
Hapless Afzarul at his house in Nilphamari.Photo: STAR
The harrowing tale of engaging a physically challenged boy in begging for making fortune by his maternal aunt and her spouse has come to light recently. The ill-fated boy, Afzarul Hossain, 14, son of farm labourer Esadul Islam, 45, and Setara Begum, 40, of Dakkhin Beruband village in Jaldhaka upazila of Nilphamari district, was deliberately kept half-fed so that he looks sickly and can draw more alms. Afzarul was born with unusually small and curved hands having only one finger in one and two in the other. His backbone is also curved and there is a big lump of flesh on back. Besides, his physical growth is inadequate. "About 5-6 years ago, my younger sister Maya Begum, 30, and her husband Abu Sayed, 35, of Duhuli village in Sadar upazila made us agree to hand over our disabled son Afzarul as an adopted child to them, assuring that they would take care of him well," said Afzarul's mother Setara Begum. "But after taking Afzarul, they kept him in 'secret' places and did not allow us to see him even for once," she said. Around three months ago, Afzarul's parents came to know that Maya Begum and Abu Sayeed had engaged their son in begging at Saidpur. The pathetic story of Afzarul along with his picture of begging was published in a local weekly of Saidpur a few months ago and consequently, his parents came to know their son's plight, said their neighbour Abdul Mannan, also a member of the local union parishad. Esadul and Setara came to Saidpur town and after searching for days, they found their son begging at the rail station. They took him with them while the foster parents, who were waiting nearby to take away alms received by Afzarul, fled away after seeing his real parents. Emaciated and sickly Afzarul is now taking treatment under a local doctor. Talking to this correspondent at their house on September 2, the boy said, “Everyday I earned Tk 500-800. But my foster parents gave me small amounts of food to make me look sick and prevent my proper growth so that people felt pity and give good amounts of alms." "My foster parents took me to Farmgate, Kamalapur and Gabtoli in Dhaka and different famous fair spots of the country to engage me in begging. "Using the money earned in this way, they have become rich. My foster father, who was once a rickshaw-puller, bought cultivable land in Duhuli village, set up a grocery shop there and constructed a tin-shed brick build house,” he said. Setara Begum said the foster parents are now trying to kidnap her son to start their evil act again. "The foster father, who misappropriated for years the monthly allowance sanctioned for Afzarul from social welfare department's fund for the disabled people, is yet to return the card for the allowance although we took back our son," she said. She demanded punishment to the brutal couple for inhuman treatment to her son. "I am shocked to hear the story of Afzarul. I would help him and his poor parents in possible ways," Mominur Rashid, chairman of concerned Shimul Bari union parishad said. "If Afzarul's parents want to take legal action against his foster parents, my organisation will extend support," said Shah Md Nurun Naabi, director of Disabled Peoples' Organisation for Development in Nilphamari.
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