Metro report on July 24

Cancer patient Seema Mukherjee, who lost her treatment money in a taxi, came close to losing her elder son on Monday when he attempted suicide after being scolded for seeking Rs 550 to pay his tuition fee.

Abhishekh, 14, took out a sari from his mother’s wardrobe, tied one end to the ceiling fan hook in a room of their Ultadanga Road residence and the other end around his neck. He would have been dead in a few seconds had family members who had been looking for him not broken open the locked door and pulled him down.

He was taken to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital but did not require hospitalisation.

The Class VIII student had been telling his mother that he wouldn’t go for tuition if she did not pay the monthly fee immediately.

“I am bankrupt after the loss of Rs 3 lakh in a taxi. I am not only unable to continue my treatment, but also find it difficult to support my sons’ studies. I told Abhishekh that I would give him the tuition fee next month. But he was not listening to me and said he would stop going for tuition. I lost my cool and scolded him,” said the 38-year-old mother of two, suffering from liver cancer.

Seema is estranged from her husband but continues to live with her in-laws. The Rs 3 lakh that she lost had been given by her retired father, based in Durgapur.

On June 23, she got off a taxi a few yards from her Ultadanga home but the driver sped away before every piece of luggage could be taken out. The small bag that remained in the taxi contained the cash.

She immediately lodged a complaint with the police but the taxi and its driver could not be traced.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s office, from where Seema had been shooed away when she went looking for assistance, promised to help her after Metro narrated her story. She submitted her medical reports to the chief minister’s secretariat last month but has received only promises so far.

“An officer assured me that arrangements would be made for me to continue treatment at a cheaper cost than what I have had to pay so far. But I have no money to bear other expenses,” she said.

Individuals, including the managing director of a company and a taxi driver, have donated some money but Seema needs much more to continue her treatment.

“I received Rs 9,000 from my well-wishers, and I am grateful to them. But it was not enough to even carry out the tests prescribed by my doctor,” she said.

Seema’s savings amount to Rs 1.5 lakh, kept in a monthly income scheme.

“My elder son’s school fee is Rs 850 and the tuition fee is Rs 550. The interest that I receive from the monthly income scheme is not enough even for his education. My retired father wants to help me but he has no money,” she said.