Mysuru: A pregnant woman braved the cold for two nights starting Thursday to take shelter in a park in Saraswathipuram here along with her 11-month-old baby girl to save her from being sold by her husband.
Some good Samaritans, who spotted the woman who is seven months pregnant, contacted Deccan Chronicle, and in turn, we alerted the Mysuru city police that rescued her on Saturday. She was later taken to Shakthidhama, a rehabilitation centre for destitute women.
Fatima, 30, wife of Manjunath, a painter in Vasanthnagar had erected a small tent over a borewell pump in the park behind Kamakshi Hospital in Saraswathipuram. She neither spoke to people in the neighbourhood nor took any food from them, but bought milk and boiled it on a makeshift three-stone cooking stove for her little girl.
Moved by her plight, a couple living near the park, V. Murali and M. Girija, called Deccan Chronicle over the phone Saturday morning.
This correspondent then got in touch with Mysuru DC D. Randeep and the superintendent of Shakthidhama, and rushed to Saraswathipuram park along with a team of police officers to rescue her.
Fatima told Deccan Chronicle that her husband had sold their first two children, one male and one female, and was harassing her to give up her third child too so he could sell her to a couple in Bengaluru. Soon after her third child was born she wanted to undergo a tubectomy, but was told to wait as she was anaemic. "But I got pregnant within three months. So this time I decided to leave. Although my mother is in Kyathamaranahalli here, I didn't want to go to her, as I feared my husband would come for me there,"
She recounted,.
Fatima said she had taken shelter in Shakthidhama in the past, but her husband had come for her there and pretending to apologise, taken her back home, where he continued to harass her. "I have even approached the women's police station, but this too did not help. So this time I left home and took shelter in this park," she explained.
The woman stood firm in her decision although the temperature dipped to 11 degree Celsius on Thursday night and 13 degree Celsius on Friday night. At Shakthidhama, the superintendent has promised to keep her and her daughter safe and take care of her delivery. Mr Randeep has also appealed to the deputy director of the department of women and child development, Ms Radha to help with her care.
Mysuru city police commissioner, Dr A Subramanyeswar Rao has promised to take action against her husband for selling their children and harassing her.
