She speaks through tears

When all the lights of a buzzing shoppingmall in Tangail town go off in the midnight, a woman in her fifties can be seen weeping alone at the corner of the mall, who has reportedly been leading such reclusive life on the streets for the last 30 years after being segregated from her family.

Roy Kishori Paul was found sitting in front of a shopping mall in the Old Bus Stand area of ​the district town. When asked why she was crying, she remained silent keeping her head down.

"We don't really know who she is. For the last few years, wehave been seeing her sitting in front of the shopping mall with a blanket and a bottle of water at the night," said a local resident Durjoy Hode Shuvo.

The night guards of the shopping mall said that a rickshaw drops her every night and takes her away in the morning. The guards do not tell her anything for humanitarian reasons.

It was found out later the woman sits on the sidewalk in front of a grocery shop at the corner   of Bindubasini Government Girls' High School at the day time. The shop owner, Krishna Saha, picks up her in a rickshaw in the morning and drops her off in front of the shopping mall every night.

Krishna said, "Her name is Roy Kishori. About five years ago, I saw her sick and lying roadside and brought her to near my shop. Since then she has been living on the footpath beside my shop. As there is no scope on the sidewalk for saving her from rains or other natural phenomena, I ask rickshaw pullers to drop her in front of the shopping mall where she sleeps at night. Later, I take her back here in the morning."

Krishna's wife Aarti Saha said Roy Kishori sits on the side of the road all the daylong. Kind people give her money or food. But she does not want anything from anyone. She also does not want to eat most of the foods and give these to others. The money given by the people is also taken away by the drug addicts and street boys.

"She hardly talks. The only way she expresses her emotion is shedding tears in silence. Leaving the shop in my hands for a while, my husband occasionally feeds her, bathes her, cuts her hair and nails, or lights up mosquito coils."

Aarti also said an attempt was made to take her to a shelter but she refused to go anywhere.

"She cried when we insisted. Once a wealthy man tried hard to take her to the old home but failed.

Nowshad Rana Sanve, a young rights activist in the town, said that he has gathered some information about Roy Kishori doing some background check.

Sanve said Roy Kishori was born in a poor Hindu family in Bailya village in Tangail Sadar upazila. Her father Gendu Paul was a potter by profession. Like other families at the village, the family used to make a living by making earthen pots and other utensils.

Of the three sons and one daughter of Gendu Paul, Roy Kishori was the youngest. Amid the poverty of the family, Roy Kishori was growing up with joy and laughter. But later the death of her parents made her life uncertain.

Quoting the locals, Sanve said after the death of her parents, Roy Kishori's three elder brothers-- Gupeshwar Paul, Nagen Paul and Naresh Paul-- sold their ancestral lands to local Muslims and moved to India with their family in 1990, during the unstable political situation in the country. They also took Roy Kishori with them. But a few days later, she returned.

There are two accounts among the locals about her return. Some of them say that the brothers left Roy Kishori in the border area while leaving the country. Few others say that she returned on her own.

After her return, helpless Roy Kishori worked as a house help for the people at daytime taking shelter at night on the veranda of a structure at Bailya Bazar.

However, no one could say when and how she came to Tangail town from there.