ALAPPUZHA: While the Congress celebrates the victory of Rahul Mamkootathil in the Palakkad bypoll, away from the arc lights in Kayamkulam a 36-year-old woman is hopping from one hospital to another due to the lasting health issues she started suffering following the police lathicharge during the Youth Congress’ Alappuzha Collectorate march in January to protest against Mamkootathil’s arrest.
For Megha Renjith, who was one of the protesters, the health issues caused as a result of the lathicharge have turned her life upside down as the doctors have been unable to diagnose her ailments even after 10 months. “My hands and legs pain severely when I stand for more than one hour. Sometimes it leads to heavy headache and vomiting,” says Megha, the mother to a six-year-old girl.
Her plight began on January 15, when she participated in the Youth Congress march in protest against the arrest of Mamkootathil, the Youth Congress state president, for his alleged role in the violent protests near the secretariat.
The police resorted to lathicharge in which many protesting leaders suffered injuries. Megha, the general secretary of Youth Congress, Alappuzha, was hit behind her head with a baton, and also behind the neck, on the vertebrae, a blow that damaged her cervical disk. She spent 15 days in a private medical college, and another 16 in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
Though the family spent huge sums of money on her treatment, her health has not improved. Her husband Renjith, an electrician, has been unable to go to work due to her ailments.
Megha had started a beauty parlour in her home town Kayamkulam after taking a loan of around `25 lakh a year ago. It was the main source of income for her family. Now, the police lathicharge has severely limited her mobility, which has affected business.
“I have been unable to go to my shop, as I need to stand for long hours for the make-up of brides or women coming to the beauty parlour,” says Megha.
The family says the Congress party provided them support and money for initial treatments, but it was insufficient.
“I have been treated at the Alappuzha General Hospital, Alappuzha Medical College and other private hospitals in Tiruvalla and Thiruvananthapuram. After allopathy, the doctors advised me to go for ayurvedic treatment to reduce the pain, but it too has proved ineffective. I am deep in debt as I took a huge loan for running the parlour. The doctors recommend going to a multi-specialty hospital for better treatment, but we don’t have money. My deteriorating health is making my life even more miserable,” says Megha.