BALASORE: For the Khatuns of School bazaar area of Balasore town, the World Disability Day held no meaning. Four siblings of this six-member family - Salma Khatun (29), Saira Khatun (42), Roshni Khatun (37) and Abdul Tahir (40) - are born blind.The only normal persons in their family are their younger brother Abdul Zaved (25) and mother Muzleman Bewa (64). After their father Abdul Zahir died of cancer in 2005, their mother Muzleman works as a maid to keep the family going. Her younger son Abdul adds a meagre amount to the frugal family income by repairing watches.The family has a BPL card which ensures 25 kg of rice and disability pension of ` 200 a month each. “But this meagre amount does not suffice as far as maintaining a six-member family is concerned,” Muzleman says.“My husband was running a tailoring shop and we could somehow manage the family. Now at 64, I have to work despite my old age and feed them with whatever I earn,” she adds. Blindness apart, Tahir has neurological complications. His hands and legs shake even if he makes a step. All the siblings feel they are leading a cursed life. “It hurts us as we sit idle at home when our mother and younger brother go to work. It would be better if we die than lead such miserable lives,” laments Tahir.The doctors say there is no solution for their disability. “They are suffering from a hereditary eye disease which is a congenital disorder. The retinas in their eyes are defective and there is no solution for the disease till date. Though we have been successful in heart and liver transplants, no retina transplantation has been done yet,” says ophthalmologist Sujit Narayan Mohapatra. He adds that the four might get low vision with the help of magnified glasses and telescopic lenses. But that again requires money which is not possible for the poor family to arrange. The family has sought government assistance so that Zaved can start up a business.
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