Dubai: The children of a bedridden man — two teenage daughters and a six-year-old son — who were abandoned by their mother in Bangladesh recently, said they were insecure about their father returning home from the UAE.
Although they are happy that they will be able to see their father, financial constraints are troubling them as their father was the sole breadwinner of the family, they said.
Manik Bepari, a 42-year-old Bangladeshi worker, was run over by a car while he was crossing the road two years ago. The accident, which took place in Al Nahda area in Sharjah on September 23, 2009, rendered Bepari in coma. Ever since, he has been bedridden at Kuwaiti Hospital.
The construction company where he worked as a helper to the mason closed down a year ago.
Now, thanks to the efforts of two social workers, M. Amanulla and Mujeeb Rahman, who took up his cause, Bepari will be able to fly back home. They raised funds for the air tickets. But how the cost of his treatment and care will be covered is still an unanswered question before his young children.
Paralysed body
At present, he is able to open his eyes, but the rest of his body is paralysed and he is not able to speak. His permanent disability is 100 per cent, according to hospital records.
Speaking to Gulf News over the phone from Bangladesh, with the help of a relative, the children said they have no money even for food. They were going to school earlier, they said, but stopped after their father's accident.
Their mother has left the house, and they are now under the care of their paternal uncle, they said.
The social worker, Amanulla said they had to run from pillar to post to get the legal procedures completed to send Bepari home. "We needed to get a consent letter from the wife in Bangladesh, through the consulate, to be able to send Bepari home. But she refused saying that she has no financial means to support her husband."
Later, Bepari's brother stepped in and gave us the consent, Amanulla said.
Mohammad Nazmul Quaunine, Ambassador of Bangladesh to UAE, said that refusal to give consent letters to accept their loved ones, although rare, do happen.
