[Nirmala had been suffering from multiple ailments due to old age, including malnourishment, for a long time. (Photo: Times of India)]
Bhabanipur (West Bengal): Muslim residents of Bhabanipur village near Malda's English Bazaar in West Bengal came forward to help a Hindu woman whose two daughters could not afford to arrange a funeral.
Nirmala Rabidas, age 63 lived with her two daughters, Archana and Tuni, as her husband died 13 years ago and elder daughter Rekha moved to Pukhuria village after marriage.
Nirmala had been suffering from multiple ailments due to old age, including malnourishment, for a long time. She suffered a heart attack on Friday night and died before she could be taken to a hospital.
Their neighbours Enamul Momin, Sharif Momin, Kalu Sk, Ajmal Sk, Siraj Ali and others started collecting money from the locals for her funeral. They managed to collect around Rs 10,000 within a few hours, Times of India News reported.
Nirmala supported her family by working as a domestic help and sometimes binding bidi, neighbours said. Her daughters could not continue studies due to poverty.
"We were aware of the family's condition. They had no source of steady income or a man to conduct the rituals. Nirmala's daughters were helpless," said neighbour Mirza Golam Mustafa.
District magistrate Koushik Bhattacharya visited the family on Saturday morning and handed over Rs 2,000 under the Samabyathi scheme and assured to provide education to the youngest daughter.
"It's an excellent case of communal harmony, and we want to uphold such example for others in the state to follow," Bhattacharya said.
However, the neighbours found nothing special in what they did. "We have been living together for years. What kind of humans are we if we can't stand by our neighbours in times of need?" asked Mustafa.
Bhabanipur is the oldest locality of South Kolkata.It is located just south of the Lower Circular Road. It is the second largest locality in South Kolkata after Ballygunge.
Some villages in West Bengal had recently witnessed communal clashes and it is claimed that the situation in the state is not good. However the way Muslims arranged the funeral of the Hindu widow shows how wrong and fabricated such claims are.
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