<i>Back to a mother’s lap from clutches of kidnappers </i>

Three-year-old Ashima and her newly found mother Nita Afroz Khan are all smiles at the prospect of a happy future.Photo: STAR

As if it was the way things ought to be. The eight-month-old baby girl fell from the clutch of her kidnappers and lost her right leg under the wheels of a running freight train, only to be saved later by a warm-hearted couple.
The couple, residents of Atlanta, USA, will be leaving the country next week with their adopted daughter whom they call Ashima.
This is how Ashima's amazing life story goes. On May 11 of 2006, two heroin addicts -- Billal and Rahima -- kidnapped her from Mymensingh and hopped on a Chittagong-bound freight train.
With the baby in one of their cradles, the two addicts positioned themselves in between compartments of the train.
When the train was about to reach Khanabari Rail Station in Narsinghdi, the baby suddenly fell off on the rail tracks.
A Good Samaritan happened to be near the spot at the right time, as if, he had come all the way from his workplace in Dubai not just to see his family, but to rescue the little girl from great danger. He rushed the critically injured baby to Narsingdi Hospital.
The kidnappers, however, did not give up. They appeared at the hospital the next day to claim the baby. Thankfully, patients and their attendants at the hospital smelled something fishy with the two and handed them over to police. The addicts admitted kidnapping the baby, only saying that her mother's name was Nazma.
The baby was later transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital before being handed over to Centre for Training and Rehabilitation of Destitute Women (CTRDW) headquartered at Mohammadpur in the capital.
Nita Afroza Khan and her husband Dr Shamim Khan later came to know about the physically challenged little girl and decided to bring her into their lives as a family member.
During a visit to Nita Afroza Khan's parents' house at Shekhertek, this correspondent asked Ashima who Nita was to her. "She's my mom," said Ashima hugging her new mother.
Ecstatic Ashima, wearing a print frock, was jumping up and down on Nita's lap and sometimes kissing her grandpa Abu Faruq. Moments later she was seen running around in the living room with her prosthetic leg.
Who would have thought this little girl did not have any place to call home only a couple of months back!
When she was shown a photograph of Dr Khan, a professor of computer science at Columbus State University in Atlanta, Ashima lighted up and said, "Dad, here's my dad."
"When I was looking for a baby girl to adopt, my dad told me about two babies at the centre [CTRDW] -- one named Shamima and the other Bhagyasree who lost her leg while being kidnapped. I chose Bhagyasree," said Nita, who has three more daughters -- Rimi, 27, Tessa, 25, and Shyla, 8.
When asked about the reason behind picking the girl without a leg, Nita said, "Although losing a leg turns a person -- especially a girl -- disabled and causes uncertainty here in Bangladesh, it isn't considered disability at all in the US. You see, many physically challenged persons are participating in Olympic Games and other sports. Prosthetic technology can make a difference."
Sooner or later Ashima could be handed over to an orphanage or be engaged in begging or other types of odd jobs in Bangladesh, as happens in most such cases, she said adding, "You won't find many a person to adopt such kids here."
While playing with her toys -- a doll and a set of kitchenware, Ashima asked her mom to get her something to eat. Nita came back to the conversation after making a bowl of cereal for her daughter.
On June 19 this year, a Women and Children Repression Prevention special court awarded Ashima's custody to the Khans and a family court on July 9 awarded them Ashima's guardianship and permission to take her to the US.
Following the verdict, the Khans gave Bhagyasree her new name -- Ashima Mukhtar Khan.
Asked why she decided to adopt a girl when she already has three more, Nita chuckled saying, "I thought it's better to go for a girl as girls don't get the respect, rights and freedom of speech here as they deserve.”