Yasmeen Khatoon, who has escaped from the death claws with a few broken bones, is more worried about her husband’s well-being. The three-month expecting mother has no idea that her husband is lying lifeless on an ice slab, wrapped in white.
“The last memory I have from the accident is that there was a massive jerk. My husband told me not to panic. I told my son to hold on to his father. Then, all of a sudden, everything went dark and I fell down from my seat. That was the last time I heard my husband, reassuring me,” recalled 21-year-old Yasmeen from the hospital bed at the Kharagpur Railway hospital.
“When I regained sense, there was complete confusion everywhere. The sharp pain in my hand and leg reminded me of what had happened sometime ago. I asked two men who were nearby to help me out. Then I was brought to this hospital. I am OK. So is my child. The doctor says, the child is perfect despite the accident,” said a shy Yasmeen, lightly circling her swollen belly with her unbandaged hand.
“We have not been able to break the news of her husband’s death. His body has been recovered and is at the morgue of the Midnapore medical college and hospital. But luckily, her son Mohammed Shaukat, who will turn two next month, is alive. He is being treated at Midnapore,” informed Yasmeen’s elder brother, Mohammed Shehzad.
“The doctors have advised us against telling her the truth. She might go into shock which will hurt the baby inside. Theirs was a love marriage. I don’t know how long we can keep the truth from her,” feared Shehzad. Yasmeen, her husband Haider Ali and their son Shaukat were travelling in S-3 coach.
Originally from Subhasgram in South 24 Parganas, the family was returning to Nagpur where Haider Ali had been working.