Hamida still ‘missing’; students return from Kathmandu
By Ibankyntiew Mawrie
Shillong: Family members of Hamida G Momin, the girl from Meghalaya who met with an accident in Nepal and is still ‘missing’, have appealed to the Meghalaya government for financial support to ‘travel to Kathmandu so that they can search for their daughter’.
“We are poor. We are sitting in Geduldoba, near Tura, but do not have money. We have approached our MLA and the Union Minister, who is also from Meghalaya”.
The parents of Hamida alleged that all their appeals seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, even as Hamida remains missing, most of the students who were in Kathmandu after the tragedy, including the body of deceased Florence Angel, returned to Chennai late on Monday night.
Florence’s last rites were performed on Tuesday morning.
The group which returned to Chennai also includes Karbing Sangma, a fellow colleague of Hamida. Karbing also hails from Meghalaya and was hurt in the tragedy but escaped with minor injuries.
“All along, apart from the internet, it was Karbing who remained our source of news from Kathmandu”, Hamida’s relatives told The Shillong Times.
According to the UNI reports, Hamida G Momin’s body was flown to her native place in Meghalaya. But when contacted, Hamida’s elder brother, John G Momin has denied this report saying “Our sister is still missing and Fr John Peter of Hamida’s College who is currently in Nepal has confirmed this.”
Mar Gregarious Art and Science College, Chennai which is also the college where Hamida is studying has also reiterated on the present status of Hamida as ‘missing’.
“Her body has not been found till date and we still consider her ‘missing'”, Head of the Department of Social Work, of Mar Gregarious Art and Science college, Chennai Prof KS Ramesh told The Shillong Times on Tuesday.
MLA disappoints: Hamida’s cousin Robert Crosswell Shylla, while talking to The Shillong Times over the phone said Hamida’s family is “Disappointed over the lack of support both financially and physically from the state government especially local MLA Livingstone Sangma.”
“We are poor and we cannot afford to go to Nepal that is why we are seeking help from the government”, he told The Shillong Times on Tuesday.
Shylla who just reached Geduldoba, West Garo Hills on Tuesday morning also spoke of the family having approached Union Minister of State for Rural Development and MP Agatha Sangma. “She has promised to help but they have not heard from her since.” he added.
Eye witness account: Karbing Sangma, a resident of Bolchugre in West Garo Hills is a colleague of Hamida. He escaped with minor injuries and was among the 10 students who fell in Trishuli River when the bride gave way. He is currently in Chennai staying with his friends in a rented house. When contacted, Karbing Sangma told The Shillong Times from Chennai that he received minor cuts on his leg, above his eyebrows, and at the back of the neck and was hospitalized at Kathmandu for 2 days and 1 night after which he was discharged. Thirty injured and unaffected students arrived on the same flight on Monday night along with Angel’s body including Karbing Sangma and another student who fractured both his legs and hands in the accident. Narrating the whole incident, Karbing Sangma said he along with 14 of his friends including Hamida G Momin were crossing the bridge when around 5 other locals with heavy load came from the opposite direction. “The weak bridge with a total capacity of ten people collapsed as the carrying capacity at a given time is 20 only”, he said, adding that all of them fell from a height of about 40 to 50 feet into the river. “By God’s Grace I somehow survived”, he said.