Rohtas with a customer. (Express photo)

Finding that all in his family lost their jobs due to the lockdown, this 26-year-old physically disabled attached a cart to his wheelchair to sell fruits so that he can feed his family of 15 people.

“I have three brothers and all were daily wagers. They lost their jobs due to this crisis. My mother would clean onions at the vegetable market. She too is not being hired now,” Rohtas said.

Then Rohtas thought of doing something for the family. “I had no other option but to attach a cart to my wheelchair and I started going out myself to sell fruits, either grapes or oranges. I feel in difficult times too, one should not lose hope and go on,” he said. He claims when he was four years old, he was injected something he doesn’t remember and his legs became infected.

All he could earn was Rs 300 a day. With that money, he purchased little ration. “We just ate chapatis with salt sometimes or just daal. I know it would become difficult for me to run my cart with wheelchair but I managed it. Sometimes, I would eat less so that my brothers’ families could eat,” Rohtas said.

Rohtas suffered another blow when his Bapu Dham colony was completely sealed on Saturday as many cases had been reported from there. Now he cannot move out. However, fireman Naveen came to his rescue.

“I met him a few days back when he was selling oranges. I remember I gave him a mask that time because he was just wearing a handkerchief. Then he told me about his condition and I gave ration to him for his family,” Naveen said.