- Distant from husband and son
- Even with Aadhaar card, there is no Aadhaar for life
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Saraswathi (67) has been living at the public bathroom at Mahaveera Nagar at Venur in Belthangady taluk since one-and-a-half-year.
Living in a bathroom
There is a building with 10 bathrooms in Venur market. Saraswathi lives in the two rooms of the bathroom. She has placed her clothes and other things in one room and sleeps in the other. She has no money for a rented house. She has not received any facility from the government. “I have not gone to ask for it”, says Saraswathi.
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Saraswathi was living with her mother and younger sister near Venur temple. At around 32 years of age, she was married off to Krishna Madiwala from Kalasa. The couple had 2 sons and a daughter, but the daughter expired at a young age.
Alcohol destroys the family
Krishna Madiwala and her elder son are alcoholics and used to constantly fight in the house. Her younger son, fed with the regular conflicts and depressed with the loss of his younger sister took the extreme step by consuming poison and committed suicide at the age of 20.
Saraswathi leaves home
Hurt by the loss of her younger son and daughter, Saraswathi left her Kalasa home and went to her younger sister’s house at Venur. She did not last long there. Her husband also did not come looking for her. I have forgotten my elder son who is an alcoholic, weeps Saraswathi.
Wandering since 10 years
After falling out of her sister house in Venur, she started living at random places there. Now, since almost one-and-a-half-years, she is living at the public bathroom in Venur. Since the address on her documents is of Kalasa, it is not possible to avail government facilities here. Through the help of a bank account in a nationalized bank, the address on her Aadhaar card is from here. Not being able to go back to Kalasa on one side and not being able to go back to her younger sister’s house, she is now an abandoned orphan.