When the universe comes crumbling on small souls

The scene could well fit into Spanish artist Francisco Goy'a late frescoes known as black paintings detailing sinister and horrifying scenes that evoke dark and at the same time painful emotions. But this was no painting. It was stark reality and the venue was the country's largest hospital -Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). The half-lit mortuary of the hospital is well fortified with its collapsible gate. Inside on a trolley lies the body of a forty-year or so old woman and outside a 10-year old girl is in all tears. Through her uncontrollable sobbing she could be heard saying, "What shall I do now with my mother's body? Where shall I go?"   
According to a report carried in a Bangla contemporary, her name is Bithi and the body she was looking at helplessly inside the mortuary was her mother's. To the girl, her mother was her entire universe. Now the universe has collapsed on her. Residents of a slum in Mirpur Shah Alir Bag, the mother and daughter traded in 'roti'(handmade bread) and 'pitha'(local cake) on a footpath nearby. On that fateful day (Friday, September 12), the woman was crossing the road and a minibus struck her down. With the help of a kind driver of an auto-rickshaw, the little one brought her unconscious mother to DMCH where she was pronounced dead.
What a trauma she was going through at the moment? The realisation that her mother is no more should drive her mad. As if that was not enough, she does not know any relation of hers, who would at least be of some help in taking the body out for burial. What did the little girl do to deserve such a shock and cruelty? Society today turns its back to such painful and tragic incidents. Free market economy rewards personal initiatives and makes investment in productive sectors. But the near nameless and faceless multitudes who crawl like ant at the lowest level of society get crushed under the hurrying feet of the powerful.
A poor and most likely illiterate mother did not have any business to come to this heartless city in the first place. But she had to. Whether her husband is dead or she has been abandoned with the girl is not known. At this level of society, several marriages mostly by a husband and abandonment one after another are common. In such cases, family ties are fragile all because in the melting pot of a city, slums are unto themselves a world of their own. Severed from village roots, the second-generation slum dwellers suffer from no inhibition and therefore become agents of crimes.
Clearly, girls and women are the worst victims. Bithi will not be able to bury her mother's body unless some charitable organisation or any person helps her out. Her mother Rajia Begum has had enough of this world but now what lies ahead of the little soul? She cannot go back to the slum because she will not be safe there. In this cruel society, even a 10-year old is a target of sexual assault. Even if she would have been safe there, she could not fend for herself. To survive, she must earn -however little it may be. She perhaps knows how to prepare roti and pitha but for a girl of her age, to continue the footpath trade is out of the question.
Will she join the floating children in the city? The prospect is unlikely to be to her liking. With no one to turn to, the best possible shelter for her would be a safe home. Although those are run shabbily, yet at least she will be able to keep her flesh and bones together. But she will need immediate help. There are human hyenas on the prowl. The girl is in need of solace at the greatest bereavement of her small life. Another mishap will be too much for her. Let society take note that Bithi is not alone; there are more like her and the faulty social system spawns the miseries they suffer from for no crime of their own.
Note: A follow-up story says that Rajia's body was buried with help from a charitable organisation. Bithi has a step-father who used to live separately and did not care for Bithi and her mother. However, he was tracked down by the police and the girl was handed over to him. When asked by a reporter if the step-father would take care of her, the officer-in-charge answered in the affirmative. Is that convincing enough? This development does not change the contention of the write-up. So it has been left in its original form.