'Everything collapsed before I realised what was going on'
Sabujan had started working as a garment worker hoping to change her family's fortunes, but her dreams turned into never-ending nightmares within just eight months of her employment at a factory inside Rana Plaza.
Although she survived the tragic collapse of the building in 2013, a series of subsequent events in the last decade pushed Sabujan, now a post-traumatic stress disorder patient, to untold misery.
"I heard people yelling 'run'. But everything collapsed before I realised what was going on."
She was rescued from under the rubble of the building nine hours after it collapsed.
An iron rod had pierced her thigh, and she suffered injuries all over her body.
After receiving treatment at a hospital in Savar, she went to her ancestral home in Chapainawabganj and was admitted to a hospital there.
However, due to high treatment cost, she returned to Dhaka and received free treatment at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP).
The CRP provided initial treatment, rehabilitation therapy, family support, and vocational training.
After the treatment, she returned to her husband's home in Talla, Naogaon, where her harrowing story began.
Speaking to this newspaper, Sabujan's son Jony Alam, said, "The initial treatment and other expenses cost us a lot of money. My father had to borrow from others for those."
The government distributed Tk 50,000 to each of the injured at the time. But one of Sabujan's relatives stole her money. They went to the police and were able to recover Tk 40,000.
Meanwhile, her husband, Moktar Hossain, a day labourer, was diagnosed with cancer.
"We did our best and spent whatever we had on his treatment. But we couldn't save him," said the 24-year-old Jony, who now works on land for a daily wage.
After the passing of her husband, Sabujan completely broke down.
Her son said, "Throughout the years, my father supported my mother. It took a while for her to get back to normal after he passed away."
Along with treatment, the victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy were given various vocational training at the CRP.
Sabujan was taught how to run a stationery store and was given Tk 91,000 to open one.
Following the series of tragedies, the distressed family tried to make ends meet with the little income that came from the shop.
However, the Covid lockdown dealt them yet another blow, as the shop's sales plummeted.
Though the pandemic has passed, their situation has not improved much. Sabujan lives in a small cob house with a corroded tin shed roof.
In January this year, Carolyn Scott, president of Friends of CRP-Canada Society, a major fundraiser for the CRP, met with Sabujan during a visit to Rana Plaza victims.
"Sabujan lives in a dark and dingy house. Her health is in poor condition. She only gets a monthly widow's allowance of Tk 500 from the government.
"Overall, she is in a very precarious situation, in my opinion," Carolyn said.
"Talla village is home to seven to eight victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy. Some of them have received financial aid from various sources and are doing well... but she somehow fell through the cracks," she added.
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