Asha Akhter, 18, who was abandoned by her in-laws when her husband died in the Rana Plaza collapse back in April, 2013, has finally seen a ray of hope; her new-born baby, delivered December 2.
She named the boy Ananta which means infinite. Asha and her husband Abu Zafar Sentu thought of the name together before the deadly collapse that claimed Sentu’s life.
Asha doesn’t let anyone touch her child, said Asha’s mother Aleya: “Either she is overjoyed or she is still traumatised and thinks her son will leave her too, as soon as he is out of sight.”
“My husband and I were celebrating my pregnancy. Then the day of April 24 broke with the news of collapse and later 16 horrible days when I didn’t even know whether he was alive or not. This kid is the only memory of my husband now. How could I let him out of my sight?” Asha who got married in 2012 responded to her mother’s observations.
Aleya found 21-year-old Sentu’s totally decomposed body in the Adhar Chandra High School field 16 days after the collapse. The school grounds were used to keep the bodies recovered from the wreckage of the Rana Plaza.
Asha claimed that none of her in-laws came to see after she was sent to live with her mother at Bakhtarpur, Savar. Her in-laws live in a different area of Savar.
“They [the in-laws] earlier told me they would take my kid away if it was a boy,” said a terrified Asha who believes her in-laws could take away the child any moment.
They received Tk20, 000 that was given to them as compensation. They received a rickshaw donated by a NGO. I don’t want to whine about these things anymore. I just hope they will let me hold on to my kid,” said Asha, who has so far received only two packets of biscuits and eggs worth of Tk300 till date.
Asha’s step father-in-law, Habib, confirmed he had received 20,000 and later also some other donations, along with Tk30, 000 through bKash – given by Irish clothing retailer Primark as short-term aid.
Habib also claimed that they were in touch with Asha, but refused to clarify why their daughter in-law was abandoned by them just after his son’s death.
The collapse of the eight-storey Rana Plaza, where five garment factories were housed, claimed at least 1,134 lives on April 24.
The rescue went on for 20 days, with 2,438 people being rescued from the debris, but relatives of the victims claim that hundreds of people are still missing.
