Haryana: A promising young scholar lost his life in Haryana’s Bumbaheri Village while saving 20 other lives when one of his madrassa’s Minaret collapsed over him.
17-year-old Ashfaq was among the six children of Din Mohammed’s family. Like other children, the young scholar had dreamed to become a Maulvi to call people for prayers but little did he now the roof of his madrassa would fall over him.
He managed to save 20 lives before the minaret collapsed. His grief-stricken mother Jaituni Begum says, “With the crashing of the roof and walls of the madrassa, my world came crashing down,” recalling the incident.
She added thousands of people have gathered at their village on Sunday to attend a gathering kept in honour of paying respects to the young boy.
“By the age of 14, he had learnt 30 chapters of the Quran. My son was an intelligent, affectionate and brave boy,” said the mother.
Ashfaq’s father speaking of the incident said, “Since the accident, I couldn’t gather the courage to face my wife. She is inconsolable and I don’t know what to tell her. My three-year-old daughter asks me where have I hidden her brother.”
Recalling what exactly happened that day, one of the relatives said a heavy asbestos sheet which was used as a cover to 50m shed flew and hit the madrassa minarets due to strong winds.
The minarets, in turn, collapsed on the madrassa roof. “As the minarets and the walls started to collapse, Ashfaq — instead of running to save his life — helped his friends evacuate. As he pulled 21-year-old Mohammed out, one of the minarets fell on him,” said Mohammed Sabir.
Though the maulanas rushed Ashfaq to a government hospital in Pinangwan he was not accepted in the hospital. The hospital authorities referred seriously injured Ashfaq to another government hospital in Mandikhera who further asked them to take him to Shaheed Hasan Khan medical college in Nalhar.
Rushing from one hospital to the other, Ashfaq’s father carried his boy for treatment but none of the Hospitals took him in. They in fact referred Ashfaq to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, but by the time they could reach the hospital, Ashfaq breathed his last.
Din Mohammed, his father says Ashfaq asked for water but the doctor in the Ambulance advised not to give him any.
“Ashfaq made repeated requests for water. He said he would leave us now, and if possible, he should be given some water. He said otherwise he would die without having water.”
“Then I helped him drink some water. Minutes later, my son breathed his last,” said a wailing father.
The Chairman of Haryana Waqf Board Rais Khan had announced Rs 10 lakh for the repair of the madrassa and Rs 2 lakh for the boy’s family after the mishap took the young boy’s life reports Indiatimes.
However, the grief stricken father on knowing about the compensation said the money should be donated to Madrassa rather than their family.