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Ailing and homeless in Mumbai

When dna carried out a headcount of patients residing on footpath, the number was a staggering 300, including their family members. A can of worms was opened and heart-wrenching stories of abuse and pain emerged.

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1. Ravikumar Tiwari and Sonika Devi got married six months ago in Punjab. She has a tumour in her right leg2. MP native Anil Mutheli (extreme right) had to drop out of college to bring his father to the city for cancer treatment3. Sunil Sinha, his cancer-stricken wife Sonia Devi and their kids were evicted from their Nalasopara home by the landlord
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Homeless on the city's pavements is a ubiquitous sight here. And that's why those walking past the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Parel mistake the hundreds sitting on the premises' adjoining footpaths as yet another bunch of homeless people. They are, in fact, helpless patients, robbed of their dignity and forced to stay on the streets months on end as they seek treatment for the dreaded disease at TMH.

When dna carried out a headcount of patients residing on footpath, the number was a staggering 300, including their family members. A can of worms was opened and heart wrenching stories of abuse and pain emerged.

While February 4 marks International Cancer Day, dna highlights four tales of misery, love and despair.

Together through thick and thin

Ravikumar Tiwari, 23, started his married life with Sonika Devi, 25, on a tragic note. Six months ago, he got married to Sonika in Punjab, but had to soon leave his job as a supervisor in a factory and get her to Mumbai for treatment after finding out that she had cancer.

"My mother told him that I had a huge bulging cancerous tumour in my right leg. Many husbands abandon their wives on finding out about their cancer. But Ravi is different," she said.

The newly married couple has settled on the pavement across TMH. "We have made this footpath our home for half a year now," they cooed unanimously.

Despite painful chemotherapy sessions, which have left Sonika bald, she dons a bright smile. "I am able to stay happy only because my husband is by my side. We often go around Mumbai and sightsee on days when I do not have a treatment round. We are very much in love and happy to stay on the road, if that is what it takes. The guest houses or hotels here are beyond our means. We are finding it difficult to find a shelter," said Sonika.

His father's strength and future

When Anil Mutheli, 23, realised that his father Chottelal, 61, had cancer of the voice box, the second-year student of BSc in Madhya Pradesh dropped out of college and settled on a footpath in the city to facilitate his father's treatment. The entire family migrated from Jabalpur.

"We stayed for a month at the Nana Palkar shelter near Parel, but after that we were thrown out. With nowhere to go, we were warned by our relatives that we may be forced to settle on footpath. The Borges guest house run by TMH in Bandra charges over Rs 500 per day for stay. We do not have that kind of money," said Anil.

Chottelal breathes through a hole made in his neck. "His nasal passage is blocked after the voice box surgery to remove the tumour. He gasps for breath. The hole has become a harbouring point for infections. The dust and grime on road makes my father sick," said Anil, who has been running from pillar to post trying to arrange for Rs3 lakh for his father's treatment. "That leaves us with no money to spend on shelter."


When footpath became their playground

Sunil Sinha, in his 40s, is a miserable man. Sitting beside his wife Sonia Devi, 36, he keeps patting her head, trying to relieve her of her agony. Their three children Sonali, 9, Mohini, 8, and Krishna, 6, have made the footpath adjacent to TMH their play space. Torn boardgames and a football lie desolately in the corner as Krishna sleeps, and Sonali and Mohini prance around unaware of what their mother is going through.

Sunil was thrown out of his Nalasopara home by the landlord nine months back after he failed to pay rent. "I used to work as a casual labourer in the city. After Sonia got cancer of the head and neck, which later spread to her back, I had to leave my job to tend to her," he said.

The family needs Rs 6,600 for getting Sonia's CT scan done and another Rs 20,000 for her treatment.

"I have no money. Neither do I have a shelter. Sonia's treatment has been stopped and the children have stopped going to school," said Sunil. The family hails from Bihar and does not have a ration card in Maharashtra. "I can't avail of any free treatment and have to pay for everything," he added.

 

A girl and her ailing mother

When this 16-year-old girl (name witheld to protect identity), landed in Mumbai from Ranchi in Jharkhand with her 45-year-old ailing mother in tow, she had no idea of the nightmare that was in store for her. Staying with her mother on the footpath for two months now, she was subjected to the worst possible forms of sexual assault, as she struggled hard to gather money for her mother's treatment. She returned back to Ranchi with her mother on Sunday and will return to stay back on the streets after a few weeks, as her mother's treatment restarts.

 

“I had to succumb to sexual demands of goons on the road as they threatened me. They held up weapons at me while assaulting me,” she said. The footpaths which are laden with patients are living hells for women who accompany their families for treatment. “We are so scared of goons at night that we make my daughter sleep in the middle and huddle around her on the footpath. I cover her entirely with a blanket so that she may not be singled out or assaulted,” said the victim's petrified mother.

“At times alcoholics come and sleep besides the women at night and have to be driven away by the male members. At other times our bags and valuables are stolen. We have a harrowing time,” said the mother.

 

Official Speak -

Dr Sudeep Gupta, TMH“By 2016, TMH is aiming at constructing a 20-storey-tower which will offer staying place to patients and their relatives. The construction is occuring in the land offered by Haffkine's Institute, where a women and child cancer care centre is being constructed.”

 

Dr Hari Menon, TMH“Rural women who are unaware of the city's mechanization, accompany the men in their family for treatment, and are caught unaware in the web of crime and assault that ensues. These women are sitting ducks for criminals. The patients who will eventually be subjected to stress of cancer treatment are first assaulted and get scarred for life.”

Sanjay Deshmukh, additional commissioner (health), Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation“The BMC is helpless. Where is the space to accommodate these patients? We have no space to offer or any shelter, in the heart of the city to relocate these patients.”

 

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