Ritnesh Raj from the narrow streets of Barihat, Purnia, today wakes up every morning to a darkness he has no control over. Visually impaired, Ritnesh already found it hard to get through life with his sight, but now both the system and the people who were supposed to protect him have conspired against him to take away what little light remained in his life.Ritnesh’s father used to run a small wholesale business through the municipal corporation allotted to him on rent and sell vegetables. From this one small shop sustained his family, his sisters’ marriage and his life too in one way or another. He was his son's eyes, a crutch to lean on at every step.However, once his father passed away, Ritnesh’s life turned upside down. A son who should have become the family’s support now finds himself being called a usurper of his own sisters’ helplessness. According to Ritnesh, Municipal Corporation Employee Deepak Mandal and his brother-in-law fabricated documents and snatched away his wholesale business which is about to be sold.Sister sacrificed their share for their brother, still got cheated- "It is painful that Ritnesh's six sisters had signed a stamp paper which said that they did not want any share from the shop so that their brother can survive. However, the brother-in-law due to greed somehow conspired to throw Ritnesh into the streets.According to Ritnesh, on the stamp paper, on the basis of which he was removed from the shop, there was his father's thumb impression. His father was educated and always signed, his signature is on all the documents including the bank account but where is that thumb impression?On his attempt to seek justice today, Ritnesh faced more despair at the Municipal Corporation office, as there he alleged, a municipal clerk verbally abused and threw away the disabled brother and his sister out of the office.Blind brother on one hand and a helpless sister on the other. In front, just closed doors. This scene will make even the sternest of hearts melt. Ritnesh’s biggest fear today is if the only source of income is taken away from him, what will he survive upon?No job, no source of livelihood, no support… all Ritnesh had was the one thing that had been donated to his father-his shop-which is now a subject of controversy. This is no longer just about land or a shop, but about the life and livelihood of a disabled son fighting to uphold his father's last memory and his basic right to live.Now, let's see whether administration takes heed of the blind son or it continues to drown Ritnesh's life into darkness forever.
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