Members of the Indian community in Riyadh are shocked over a tragedy that struck the family of Muhammad Arifuddin, a mathematics teacher at International Indian School, Riyadh (IISR). Arifuddin lost his teenaged daughter Shagufta Haqani, an engineering student, while bravely attempting to save her 8-year-old brother Sharjeel from electrocution in Hyderabad, India. The tragic accident happened a month ago in Hyderabad when Sharjeel was trying to remove a cloth from a live high-tension electric wire near their apartment in Mehdipatnam area of the city. Unaware of the danger, Sharjeel held an aluminum rod, after his neighbor requested him to remove the garment that had fallen on the live wire from the second floor apartment building. Shagufta immediately rushed to rescue her brother, who in an attempt to remove the cloth, was getting electrocuted. Shagufta managed to pull Sharjeel out but succumbed to her injuries later. The incident started a fire in the house in which Arifuddin's wife Laiqah, eldest daughter Shaista (24), final year engineering student, received various degree burns. Laiqah and Sharjeel are still recovering in the intensive care unit of the city's expensive Apollo Hospital while Shaista, who fractured her hand and burnt her face, is now out of danger. The teacher's second daughter, also an engineering student, was at the college when the accident happened. Arifuddin left Riyadh on May 15, the date of the tragic incident and since then is taking care of his wife, who is undergoing skin grafting for the burnt she received from waist downward while Sharjeel's toe has been amputated. Both are still in critical condition, according to teachers, parents and the students of IISR, who are frantically calling Arifuddin everyday to know about progress of his family members. The incident would serve as an eye-opener for those who are ignorant of live electric wires that pass through building tops and in front of the apartments in the city. The parents said Arifuddin has been spending around Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 on a daily basis for the treatment of his wife and son. They said Arifuddin has been spending his meager monthly salary for the education of his three daughters. “Arifuddin was proud since his eldest daughter is about to complete the engineering course while he laments for untimely death of Shagufta, also a brilliant engineering student,” said one teacher. He said Arifuddin is direly in need of financial assistance for the treatment of his wife and son, whom the doctors have not declared as out of danger. The daily medical bills he is paying amounted to somewhere between Rs20,000 and Rs25,000. The teachers, on their own, have already started a campaign to raise funds but they want the school's Managing Committee (MC) to issue a circular in this regard. They said teachers would not be able to raise enough funds and an initiative from the school will go a long way in extending financial help to Arifuddin. Saudi Gazette tried to know if the school was contemplating any fund-raising move but Talib Al-Rahman, IISR MC chairman, did not answer telephone calls. __
