Teen sold deer skins to pay medical bills

Ailing parents' death pushed family into financial crisis. Grandma, who is the boy's guardian says he only wanted to meet essential household and medical expenses

Radhikaben (name changed on request), Ronak's grandmother, who was caught selling deer and panther skins 10 days ago is convinced that her grandson's friends deliberately pushed him into selling the skins which had been with the family for a long time.



According to the 77-year-old widow, the skins had been lying on the top shelf of a cupboard for the past few years and belonged to a friend of her son. Ronak (17) tried to sell them so that he could make money and help her pay her medical bills. He is now in the Children's Remand Home in Dongri.

A diabetic with a heart ailment and high blood pressure, Radhikaben has to depend on the charity doled out by community trusts. Her phone lines and cable connections are disconnected and she seldom manages to pay her household and medical bills. In order to help her meet her expenses and buy her a television and a refrigerator, the boy decided to make a quick buck by selling the skins.

Pointing to a few photographs framed on the wall, Radhikaben said, "Had his parents been alive, they would have nurtured all his dreams and he would not have made friends with the wrong people. He is good in studies and intelligent."

Penury

The family had always been well-to-do and had enrolled Ronak in one of the best boarding schools in Panchgani.

However, four years ago, Ronak's mother died from septicemia. The expenses for her treatment sent the family into a financial collapse from which they never recovered, especially after Ronak's father succumbed to jaundice two years later.

With all sources of income dried up, she had to call Ronak back to Mumbai. Ronak took up a job and simultaneously enrolled for private tuition classes in Mumbai Central so that he could take the SSC exam.

She is thankful to advocate Vikas Takalkar for taking Ronak's case for free. Said Takalkar, "I am confident that her grandson will be released soon. It was the mistake of the late father to preserve the deer and panther skins. The child cannot be held responsible for that."