With bandages wrapped around her abdomen six-year-old Farzana Kousar, one of the youngest victims of cross-border firing between India and Pakistan, is writhing in pain inside one of the general wards of the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu.
Farzana was hit by a bullet fired from across the line of Control on Thursday afternoon around 2.30 pm in her forward village Kasba of Poonch. Standing by her side of bed no 8 in the hospital ward, her father Khadim Hussain is a worried man. Ever since he reached Jammu in the wee hours of Friday, he has been running after hospital staff to look after his girl properly.
“She has been hit by a bullet injury and till now the doctors have not operated upon her,” Khadim Hussain told reporters on Friday afternoon. The X-ray report has confirmed that a bullet has been stuck in her abdomen and I am worried if her surgery was delayed it may prove life-threatening for her.
Narrating his day-long ordeal, Khadim Hussain said, “When my daughter was hit by a bullet I was assisted by local Armymen and I reached Poonch hospital. From Poonch they referred her to GMC, Jammu. Sadly, when we reached the GMC around 3.30 am, there was no one to look after her.””I ran here and there to find a doctor. When doctor came he directed me to bring glucose and medicines and I purchased the same from outside the hospital,” said Khadim Hussain.
He said, “I left behind my home and hearth and rushed to save the life of my daughter but here the doctors were not attending on her properly. When a few mediapersons came here and interviewed me the hospital staff swung into action and started nursing her wounds and applied bandages,” he added.