In what has come as a shocker for entire civil society in Assam, a couple failing to facilitate treatment to their girl child committed suicide by jumping into flooding Brahmaputra river near Guwahati from a boat.
The incident came to light only after boatmen, whose boat the couple had hired to visit Umananda temple, informed the police.
The couple — Varun Kalita and his wife Anamika Kalita — who jumped from the boat with their 18-month-old girl child, in a letter to their parents said: “We had no option but to quit this world as even after running from pillar to post, we could not provide treatment to our beloved daughter.”
Varun who was working in a timber shop in Guwahati said: “Pain of our daughter whom we brought to this world was becoming unbearable so we have taken this decision. Hope you will forgive us. We grew in hardship and poverty but we don’t want our daughter too to suffer because of it.”
18-months-old Rismita was suffering from heart disease and needed `4 lakh for her treatment in Bengaluru as suggested by doctors. The letter suggested that the couple was relying on a scheme of the state health department but they could not get the help they wanted. Though, director of Guwahati Medical College Hospital clarified that they treated the girl for 10 days and advised them to join the camp for further treatment outside the state.