In a heart wrenching incident that occurred at the Razaqabad Camp late Monday night, a mother killed her one-year-old son after beating him out of anger and frustration.
Standing near the medical camp, Abida Bibi was being consoled by Dr Zahida Mirani, a general practitioner at the Landhi General Hospital, who was stunned after looking at the condition of the woman.
Oblivious to her surrounding, Abida kept repeating in Sindhi that she had killed her son. However, minutes later she changed her earlier statement by saying that he had drowned in deep water while they were on their way towards the camp.
“She is mentally ill or appears to be in shock by what she has done,” said the doctor.
Abida, a young woman of 28, was heard screaming and hitting something around midnight when some people went near her camp to check what was happening. An old man saw her beating her son who was crying continuously. The old man said that they called the police, who looking at the condition of the woman, let her go and the baby was buried in a nearby graveyard.
Speaking about the plight of the people living in camps, Dr Mirani said, “Even after giving them medication, we are not sure if they are taking care of themselves and we cannot push them to do so. The amount of stress they have to go through after leaving their home and hearth is something we cannot understand at all.” The doctor said that a day back she sent a four months pregnant woman to a hospital because she was suffering from severe bleeding. “This is all related to depression, the people around here, especially women are not sure about their future and although there are female doctors now we are not enough to deal with them one on one,” she explained.
Abida, who is presently living in the camp, has two more kids and her husband is worried that she might attack them too. “I cannot say anything at the moment as I don’t know what her condition is going to be like in the next few days,” he said.
“Unmet physical needs and the stress of relocating to a new and strange place triggers intense responses among people, precipitating anger and irritation,” eminent psychiatrist and educationist, Syed Haroon Ahmed explained. He added that this particular case is related to psychosomatic disorders in which hypertension and physical ailments, for instance lack of sleep and constant disturbance, can trigger an impulsive action. “But most of such disorders surface after a few weeks. If they are occurring now it calls for swift action in providing rehabilitation for the people suffering silently at the moment,” he added. Haroon Ahmed along with his colleagues is preparing a team of volunteers who can give counselling to the patients suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Gastro and other diseases: Cases of diarrhea and gastroenteritis are on the rise in the Razaqabad camp, said Dr Zahida Mirani, a doctor from the Landhi General Hospital, presently deputed at the camp.
The medical camp, which was put up a day ago, has so far received 382 patients, according to Dr Mirani. Sitting in a government camp with four of her colleagues from the Landhi Hospital, she said that a majority of people she has received suffer from stomach flu and diarrhea. When asked to give an estimate as to how many patients of gastroenteritis she has received, she said, “The number exceeds 100 as every other patient, be it a child or adult, is suffering from extreme stomach flu.”
The doctor said that there were chances that the disease will increase in the coming days because of poor hygienic conditions at the camp. Apart from gastroenteritis and diarrhea, skin infections and high fever is also common among the people as they line up for their second check up in two days. According to the doctor, there are around 200 patients with skin infections and most of them, usually children, are getting it from their family members.
Looking around the camp, she pointed towards a public toilet that was being built at that time. “This is the fifth day that we are here and it is today that a public toilet is being put up.” She said that everyone, young and old alike, go in the bushes when they feel the need and as a result there was a very bad odour emanating from that area. “Those who do not find a place, they use any place they deem proper,” explained the doctor.
Other doctors seated in the medical camp said that this camp was just to fulfil the basic needs of the people and in case of emergencies they refer the cases to different hospitals. Dr Mirani, understanding the need of a medical camp, insisted on her point that poor hygienic condition was the main cause for many of the patients to go into a relapse after a while.
Home to some 5,000 displaced people, the camp is getting full by the hour as it keeps on receiving more people from Jacobabad and connecting districts. According to Revenue officers deputed at the camp, 1,000 people are expected to come to these areas as well which the doctors say is a cause for worry, as it will raise the chances of more infections coming in.
In one of the camps, a 70 year old man is frustrated as his wife is ill and he has not been provided with an ambulance as yet. Inayat Khatoon, 60, is an arthritis patient who had to be taken to a hospital because of her illness. Getting rueful, he said that no matter how much he screams or shouts for things at the end of the day he is a displaced person with no home or belonging. “If given a chance, I’ll go back to my home no matter what happens. I can not live the life of a beggar!” he said.
