He has lost track of the number of days he has been away from home. Nor does he remember his residential address or his age. But he remembers the story of his betrayal by heart. Approximately six to seven years old, little Sohail just cannot decipher why he was abandoned by his family.
His uncle took him to Delhi from a small village in Bihar under the pretext of educating him, but vanished from the Ghaziabad station leaving him alone. Nor can he believe the fact that he was once again cheated by a Mumbai-based woman who promised to educate him but forced him to do domestic work at her residence.
“I was wandering clueless on station for two days after my step-mother’s brother abandoned me. When a lady who called herself Sajida offered to take me to her home and educate me. But after coming here she made me do all the cleaning and washing in her house,†recollected Sohail, who is currently living with the family of the tutor where Sajida sent him for tuitions. “She had no intention of educating me but she started sending me for tuitions with her daughter since the neighbours would start raising questions on who I am and why was I staying with them,†added Sohail.
However, the dream of Sohail was finally fulfiled by Christina D’Souza, his tutor in Ghatkhopar who has been guarding him for a month now. D’Souza, explained how Sajida had admitted Sohail to her tuitions over two months back saying he was a distant cousin’s son.
D’Souza smelt a rat after realising Sohail was absolutely illiterate and hailed from a village of Bihar while Sajida was originally from Delhi. Her suspicion proved true when Sohail came running to her house after being allegedly beaten with belt by Sajida and told her the entire story of how he was cheated and brought to the city. “First we hid the child on his request when Sajida came searching for him. But eventually, when the entire colony gathered around my house we confronted her. Sajida did not come back after that and in fact went to Ghaziabad some days back to settle there,†said D’Souza.
All Sohail remembers is that he is from the Churakutti village and his father Zaheer Khan is a farmer. D’Souza’s family has been trying to reunite him with his family. “We also plan to inform the police but have been avoiding it since Sohail is too scared right now and dreads being put in a shelter home,†concluded D’Souza.