Life took a turn for the worse for 19- year-old Rumana Zulkah on January 5 this year. She came in contact with a live electricity wire when she was cleaning the balcony of her house resulting in injuries to her right arm and legs.
A first year BBM student at a private college, Rumana was rushed to the hospital where 40 days later, after a leg operation, she was able to walk again.
“The doctors gave her a time frame of 9 months to return to normal,” Rumana’s father M G Yousuf said. But Rumana lost her right armand needs a prosthetic arm in the coming months.
Though inquiries by BESCOM into the incident showed that there was no fault of the energy utility, its employees decided to create a fund for Rumana’s treatment.
Day’s Salary Donated
Most employees donated a day’s salary and some even gave two or three days of salary to the fund. In the end, a total of Rs 3.25 lakh was handed over to Rumana’s father as a sort of unofficial compensation for treatment.
“Considering her young age and bright future, members of the KEB Engineers Association, the KEB Employees Union and the KEB Diploma and Engineers Association along with BESCOM‘s MD gathered Rs 3,25,000 and handed it over to the family,” said Mohan Kalluraya N, GM Quality, Safety and Supply.
The amount collected will go into the costs of procuring the artificial arm for Rumana.
“The total cost will come to around Rs 15 lakh, including the hospital costs. We have given an advance of Rs 3 lakh towards procuring an artificial arm from Germany,” Yousuf added.
Rumana has already joined college and appeared for her exams this year with the help of a scribe.
“One of her school teachers agreed to be her scribe and so she has appeared for her exams,” the proud father said.The family has since relocated to Jayanagar from their earlier house in Bismillah Nagar where the incident occurred.