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The pressure from all corners has started working and if things move in the right direction, Rubaiya will be back in her college next week.

The HT report seems to have stirred up the entire community and now everyone wants her to be back to the medical college. The villagers including teachers and the Imam of local Khagrabari mosque too have started demanding that Rubaiya should continue with her studies.

Hindustan Times carried a report on how Rubaiya's father Noor Jabbar Ali Mian, a science teacher, prevented her daughter from continuing her medical course branding her a witch. Noor had taken away Rubaiya to Takagachhi village residence from the medical college hostel without informing the hostel authorities. The HT report made the administration sit up and take note.

Abdul Hamid, son of the local Imam Nurul Haque, said, "We along with Noor and Rubaiya met the district magistrate Rajesh Sinha and told him everything about the matter. The district magistrate telephoned the RG Kar Medical College principal assuring that Rubaiya would attend classes from the middle of the coming week. He has also requested the principal to look after Rubaiya soon after she reaches the college."

Hamid, also an assistant teacher of a local high school, said that her parents also agreed to send her to the medical college. Her father has also spoken to the principal professor Utpal Dutta.

Dutta said, "I have spoken to the DM and assured him to take care of the student when she would come to the hospital. The college authorities have also written to the Rubaiya's father asking the latter to send her to the college."

Some teachers of Coochbehar College and Manindranath High School said that they would also talk to her father and request him to send his daughter to Kolkata. His father is an honest man and will allow her daughter to continue medical study, said Uttam Roy, a physical education teacher of Manindranath High School.

The state Women's Commission has also sought the Coochbehar DM's intervention so that the girl who wants to be a doctor can continue studies.

Sarbani Bhattacharjee, a member of the commission, said, "I have requested the DM to take necessary steps for her study. I think her family members will consider Rubaiya's future and allow her to go to the medical college."

Rabeya, a class IX student who is also Rubaiya's sister said, "My sister does not have any problem right now. She is sleeping well and eating meals regularly. She will go to Kolkata soon. One of our relatives who is associated with the Kolkata police has also contacted my father asking him to send didi  to the medical college."

Meanwhile at Kolkata, at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where Rubaiya was studying to be a doctor, the scene is one of delight and concern. From her batchmates to seniors, everybody is happy that she would soon be returning to continue her studies but at the same time concerned about her health condition. Final year student Anal Saha said that during all his interaction with Rubaiya, she came across as a "normal and simple person". "I have interacted with her several times during our visits to classes as part of the students' union and she showed no signs of any mental illness. I was surprised and sad to know that she could be schizophrenic and that her parents have kept her captive," he said. Saha further said that with Rubaiya returning to college on Tuesday, all the students would rally behind her to ensure that she can continue her studies and even get treated, if necessary. His batchmate Uday Maity echoed similar feelings.

"Parents who have got their daughter admitted to a medical college in Kolkata because they want her to be a doctor should not resort to such primitive means to treat a disease. If she is actually suffering from schizophrenia, then she should be treated properly. Both our college and hospital have enough good doctors to do that," Maity pointed out.

Sumita Sarkar (name changed), who is Rubaiya's classmate and stays in the same hostel, said that none of her co-hostelites could believe that Rubaiya could suffer form such a serious disease because she never showed any signs of illness. "Since such diseases cannot be understood from the outside, she should be properly diagnosed and treated. Her parents should understand that she is unwell and not possessed. Now that she is returning, we will all be with her to help her get over the situation," she said.

Email author: subhendu.maiti@hindustantimes.com
Email author: tanyabagchi29@gmail.com