Man from Thane sold his family's Canadian travel papers for Rs 3 lakh to fund ailing daughter's treatment. Today, he doesn't have money for bail
Man from Thane sold his family's Canadian travel papers for Rs 3 lakh to fund ailing daughter's treatment. Today, he doesn't have money for bail
With grey hair and unkempt beard, Salim Khan looks much older than his 38 years. Though he doesn't speak much, his sombre eyes reveal the tale of a desperate father's last-ditch attempt to save his dying daughter.
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A father's love |
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(Top)Salim Khan's 8-year-old daughter is suffering from a chronic brain ailment;
(Middle)Khan sells his family's Canadian travel papers to fund her treatment;
(Above)Travellers using the papers are caught at Delhi airport. Now, Khan too is in jail |
Khan, lodged in Tihar Jail since February 14, is the helpless father of an eight-year-old girl who has been suffering from a chronic ailment of the brain since birth. To fund his daughter's treatment, the gift shop attendant from Thane near Mumbai had sold off his family's passports and Canadian visa papers to a tout for Rs 3 lakh. However, the fake passport holders who bought Khan's documents from the middleman were caught while flying to Canada from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. And the police followed the trail to Khan.
Today, Khan doesn't even have the Rs 1 lakh needed for his bail and his daughter's condition is worsening without treatment. His wife, Hasina, who stitches clothes and supplies tiffin to nearby offices to make a living is the only member of their family who is aware of Khan's imprisonment.
But she is scared of asking relatives for help as she fears that it may malign her husband and spoil the future of her other daughters who are of "marriageable age". "I know my husband has been arrested. But I can't turn to anyone for help. They will assume he is a criminal. But in reality, he was desperate for more funds to treat our daughter," said Hasina, breaking down in tears.
Khan, who owned a house in Mumbai's Mahim area and ran a successful gift shop with his brother from the locality, started sinking into debts about eight years ago when his favourite daughter, fourth among seven siblings, was infected with a strange fever when she was barely 40 days old. Khan sold his house, rented out his shop and even took up a job in a gift shop to treat his daughter, who has been in a vegetative state for the past eight years.
"I did not have any option... I did it for my daughter as I could not see her in pain. Everyday, when I returned home, I could feel her pain. There was nobody to help me. I had borrowed lots of money from others," Khan had told the Delhi police, explaining his act.
During these eight years, Khan had flown his daughter to London twice, spending over Rs 10 lakh on her treatment. "His house fetched him Rs 6.5 lakh and his shop, Rs 3 lakh. And when nothing was left to sell, he sold off the passports. Though he has lost all material belongings, he is happy that his daughter could at least respond to his call. But now that he can't take her for further treatment, her condition is deteriorating," said a close relative, wishing anonymity to protect the family's "reputation". "Though our daughter's condition improved after she was treated at the London hospital, we could not afford to continue the special diet prescribed by the doctors. Her food and medicines cost more than Rs 3,000 every month," said Hasina.
Even today, Khan's pertinent worry is that his daughter may be hastening towards an early death.
Khan was arrested by the Delhi police on February 14 from his rented accommodation in Thane. The cops were tracing the leads gathered after the arrest of four people at the IGI airport, who were found traveling with forged passport and visa documents.
"The four passengersu00a0Gopal, 42, Jyotsna, 22, and two young girls, from different families in Gujarat's Mehsana areau00a0were about to board a Canada-bound flight when an immigration officer noticed that they were travelling on fake papers. The passport and visa had been issued in the name of Khan and his three family members. The tout may have forged the photographs on the documents," said a Delhi police official.
Unfortunately, while Khan is still in jail booked for human trafficking and cheating, the fake paper holders have got off on bail. "He had to deposit Rs 1 lakh for bail but has failed to do so," said the accused's lawyer RD Tyagi.
Some of the names in the article have been changed on request of the accused who wants to protect his daughters who are of "marriageable age."
