A 14-year-old fatherless boy in Natore’s Boraigram, left desperate after his only means of support — a battery-run auto-van — was taken by fraudsters posing as passengers, has received two battery-run vans and a total of 8 lakh 34 thousand taka in aid.
News of his plight was carried by various media outlets, including the online edition of Naya Diganta, while a video of the family weeping went viral on social media. Countless people at home and abroad then extended a hand of financial support.
Mamun Biswas, known in Sirajganj’s Shahjadpur as a “hawker of humanity,” came forward to help. After he posted on Facebook, countless people at home and abroad gave 2 lakh 34 thousand taka in aid.
On Friday afternoon, July 24, Mamun Biswas went to Shalainagar village in Natore’s Bagatipara upazila and handed the boy and his mother a new van, food supplies, new clothes and 1 lakh 50 thousand taka in cash.
Earlier, on Thursday afternoon, July 23, a city philanthropist, Rentu Mridha, formally handed the boy another new van at the Zila Parishad premises. An expatriate named Amir Hossen also gave him 50,000 taka in aid.
In addition, the Boraigram and Bagatipara upazila administrations gave the boy’s family food supplies and financial aid. Numerous charitable people inside the country and abroad also sent financial aid to his personal mobile-banking number.
Overwhelmed at receiving the new van and financial aid, the boy said: “After losing the van it felt like everything was over. I could not understand how I would keep going with my mother and two siblings, or how I would pay the loan instalments. But I never even imagined that so many people would stand beside me. I am grateful for life to those who helped me in this hard time. May Allah do good to them all.”
The boy’s mother said: “I took a 1 lakh taka loan from an NGO and bought the boy a van with 80,000 taka of it. From the income of driving the van, 9,000 taka has to be paid every month in instalments. Even at this young age the boy has to do this hard work under the pressure of running the household. For want of money I could not send the boy to school. If everyone stays beside us the way they have, the boy will be able to study and will not have to drive the van.” She also said she would set up a shop with the money.
On Tuesday, July 21, two fraudsters posing as passengers cleverly made off with the boy’s battery-run van in the Banpara municipal town of Boraigram. News of the loss of his van spread widely through various media and on social media. As countless people at home and abroad then stood by him, the aid came to a total of 8 lakh 34 thousand taka.
With a new van received through the help of people from various walks of life, the teenager and his family have found new hope of earning a living again.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report