THANE: It was Monday, and Dost Salmani, 40, was eager to get home in Bhandup - as the barber had been doing for years - and meet relatives to fix his elder daughter's wedding. But it was not to be: Salmani died in a freak accident after being electrocuted at a bus stop here.
On Monday afternoon, Salmani, the sole bread-earner for his family, was waiting at ST workshop bus stop near Khopat junction when he accidentally came in contact with dangling live electrical wires used to illuminate advertisements.
At home in Ibrahim chawl in Bhandup's densely populated Sonapur locality, his 35-year-old wife Aasma was looking forward to his visit and cooking for the joint family of 12. She became frantic when her calls wouldn't go through.
"We rushed to Thane civil hospital once the police informed us. I didn't say anything to the women and kids at home as I wasn't ready to face them," said Zuber Ahmed, Salmani's brother-in-law.
Salmani couldn't afford commuting daily and so stayed with the owners of the salon in Thane where he had been working for 25 years. Every Monday, he would come home. He was paid Rs 2,000, most of which went into treat his mother-in-law's
tuberculosis.
Salmani's dream to see his daughter happily married is likely to now remain only a dream, rued his relatives. The
Thane Municipal Corporation has not yet declared any compensation, but the family is keen on a job for the wife as well as some money, desperately hoping it would help them cover expenses for sometime.
Razaad, Salmani's 14-year-old physically-challenged son, said: "Even though we are poor, my father always catered to our needs. Despite my birth deformity, he encouraged me to study and chase my dreams. Every cent that he earned was used for us; he never bought anything for himself. We are worried about my sister's wedding as it will require a lot of money."
Salmani, originally from Uttar Pradesh, also had two daughters, aged 20 and five, and another son who is three.
The Naupada police said they have begun investigations and will lodge an FIR once they figure out who was negligent: the contractor or
Thane Municipal Transport.