KOLKATA: Be it Ma Durga or Allah, Renu Khatun is grateful to the Almighty for blessing her after her right hand was chopped off from the wrist by her husband as a punishment for pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse in a government-run healthcare unit.
When people of West Bengal are worshipping Durga, a goddess with 10 arms symbolising that she protects her devotees from all corners, Renu, with her one hand, is training freshers in the government-run Burdwan nursing college about how to take care of needy patients.
“I wanted to serve patients in a government hospital and was heading towards my goal step by step. After taking training from a hospital in Kolkata, I qualified in the examination for nurses in a government hospital. My husband was against my dream. One night in June 2022, he and two of his friends pounced on me when I was sleeping and chopped off my right hand,” recounted Renu.
Renu got the job of a trainer after the incident shook Bengal and chief minister Mamata Banerjee intervened.
She, with an artificial right palm, has planned to participate in Bengal’s biggest religious festival and visit Durga Puja pandals with her colleagues in Burdwan town.
After completing nursing training course from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, Renu worked as a nurse in a private healthcare unit in East Burdwan district. “My husband Sheikh Sariful was against my dream of working in a government hospital. He had a wrong idea that I would leave him after getting a government job. After qualifying in the exam, I was determined to join the government service. Because of my determination, what he did to me was beyond my imagination,” said the young woman.
Sariful and two other suspects were arrested by police on the basis of a complaint lodged by Renu’s father Azizul Haque. Renu’s family stood by her.
Fighting back in life has made it a second birth for Renu. “Sometimes, I repent for not being able to work as others. My dream of serving needy patients has been left unachieved. I console myself saying that at least I am training others for the same job. For this, I am grateful to the Amighty, be it Ma Durga or Allah,” she said.
“At my ancestral village, Durga Puja was not organised in my childhood as it required a big budget. Small religious festivals like Saraswati Puja used to be organised. I first saw big pandals on my way to the nursing institution in Kolkata. It was a mesmerizing feeling. I will go for pandal hopping with my friends in Burdwan district headquarters town this year,” said Renu wishing the people of Bengal on the occasion of Durga Puja.