A migrant worker reached his village in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday after walking over 700 kilometres while dragging a makeshift wooden cart, carrying his pregnant wife and infant daughter amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
Ramu, a native of village Kudemoh in Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh had gone to Hyderabad to find work and earn a living. After the lockdown, jobs dried up and he had no option but to retreat to his native village in Balaghat.
With no money for necessities, let alone buy masks, Ramu said that he pleaded before several locals in Hyderabad for help but none extended any support. Despite dwindling savings and no travel arrangements, he decided to walk along with his family to his native village amid the lockdown.
He arranged for a wooden cart as his pregnant wife, Dhanwanta and two-year-old daughter Anuragini could not walk the gruelling journey.
Ramu said that after leaving Hyderabad, he held her daughter in the lap and his wife held on to the belongings. But as the walk continued, both his wife and daughter got exhausted, leading Ramu to make a makeshift wooden cart. Binding the wooden board with a rope, he started walking while pulling the cart, with his family seated, along with him.
Undeterred by heat, hunger and thirst, Ramu and his family reached his village in Balaghat on Wednesday after in 17 days of the journey.
Local policemen deployed at nearby Rajegaon said they were moved after seeing their hardships and offered biscuits and slippers to the girl. Officials arranged for a private vehicle to send them to their village after screening for infection.
A video showing Ramu pulling his family on the cart drew attention on social media with users from across the country lauding the man’s herculean efforts to bring back his family amid the Covid-19 crisis.
LIVE TV
