The forgotten bomb victim
The car bomb attack which took place in front of Pattani’s Muang district police station and the adjoining provincial police head office on April 21, 2010 was long gone from the memory of most people in Pattani and elsewhere but not for Pol Maj Kumanthana Benjamana.
Ms Kumanthana, then a non-commissioned police officer before she was promoted a police major after the incident, was among some 50-plus policemen injured in the bomb blast which also killed one police officer as they were lining up for the morning flag-hoisting ceremony.
Although she survived the attack, she was badly injured and has since been confined to the bed and unable to move by herself. After being discharged from the hospital, she has been living in her father’s house but bed-ridden under the care of her cousin, Mrs Attiya Hayi Arwae.
Mrs Attiya told the Isra news agency that she had to tend to Ms Kumanthaya because she could not help herself at all although she was conscious. The victim’s condition should have improved further had she been given proper rehabilitation, she said.
Mrs Attiya said she felt very sorry for the victim who lost her brother two years ago also from bomb explosion and her mother two years before that. Her husband also broke up with him and took away their two children to live separately.
“Although her ex-husband lives about a kilometer away, the two children rarely visit their bed-ridden mother. It is the victim’s brother and family and herself who have been taking care of her,” said Mrs Attiya.
“She seems to understand what we are talking about. But when she tries to speak, her voice sounds like she is crying and it makes almost everyone who heard her voice weep in silence,” said Mrs Attiya.
She went on saying that the compensation money given by the government had all been used up in medical treatment. She admitted that sometimes she had no money even to buy diapers for the victim and had to borrow money from her relatives.
Asked what she wants most for the victim, Mrs Attiya said she wanted her to be given rehabilitation which should help her recover more quickly. She, however, admitted that she had never asked for help from any state agencies because she didn’t want to burden them with the problem of just one person.
“Like a biaby, the victim wants to be tended to all the time. But her relatives are busy and have their own problems to deal with so it is not possible for her to be taken care off all the time,” said Mrs Attiya.
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Captions :
1 Ms Kumanthana's house
2 Ms Kumanthana and her cousin