Girl struggling against all odds, one against poverty and the other against cancer as destiny has inspired many around her.

The thatched house of Samina Khatun of Ramnathpur village in Jamalpur, Burdwan East saw an unexpected stream of officials and leaders making a beeline carrying bouquets, sweets and ‘good wishes’.

The wishes for her ‘long life’ have only drawn a dry smile from Samina.

Samina, daughter of a marginal farmland labourer Sheikh Alam, initially had pain in her throat in 2019. Her father took her to the local Jamalpur Block primary health centre, which failed to detect her problem. Samina gradually started having difficulties in swallowing.

The Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, where she visited as her woes continued, diagnosed her case as throat cancer. “I was a student of Class VIII then and was absolutely shattered seeing my parents breaking down,” said the girl in her broken voice. Her treatment during the Covid-19 lockdown days was badly hampered, Sheikh Alam said, which he blames for his daughter’s deteriorating condition.

The house of Madhyamik’s first boy Raunak Mandal in Burdwan town marked footfalls of the senior district officials, leaders and even the student’s union leaders. A small Ramnathpur hamlet that houses little Samina, however, had no expectation that the vehicles of Sub-Divisional Police Officer Suprabhat Chakraborty, BDO Gautam Dutta, MLA Alok Majhi, OC of Jamalpur PS Rakesh Singh, panchayat samiti sabhapati Mehmood Khan would be stopping at her doorstep. Samina’s appearance at this year’s Madhyamik was the reason for the officials to come to her and appreciate her courage.

Samina scored 204, a meager 35 per cent in Madhyamik. “We didn’t expect her to appear in the exam as her study was severely hampered due to the persistent disease and its treatment. She couldn’t attend her online classes as my husband couldn’t buy an Android phone for her,” said Noorjahan, Samina’s mother.  She added, “We’re more keen in arranging chemotherapy medicines for Samina, right now than her studies.”

The officials who visited Samina today assured to extend “every assistance Samina needs in the days ahead”. SDPO Chakraborty and BDO Dutta said, “We salute the courage of the little village girl, which brought us here to her village today.”