Woman wrongly diagnosed with cancer to contest polls

Woman wrongly diagnosed with cancer to contest polls

Sajimon.PS@timesgroup.com  16.11.2020 

Alappuzha: Rejani V  , who was given chemotherapy after a wrong diagnosis of cancer, is contesting local body polls to register her protest against the government authorities for her present plight.

In 2019, Rejani was subjected to chemotherapy at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on the basis of a wrong test report from a private laboratory.

The doctors later realized that the woman was not affected by cancer when the result of the samples to the MCH lab was found negative.

“I don’t know how to explain those days. I am an ordinary woman and mother of a girl child. The shock and my mental depression at that time cannot be expressed in words. I had lost my hair and turned bald. I also experienced physical uneasiness,” said 39-year-old Rejani. Rejani, abandoned by her husband, has an eight-year-old daughter. She worked as a cashier in a textile shop in Pathanamthitta.

“The government has not come forward to help me. I knocked many doors of government departments but none opened for me. So in September 2019, I staged one-day fasting protest in front of Mavelikkara taluk office and BJP supported my agitation. After that, I got Rs 3 lakh from the chief minister’s distress relief fund. I requested the government to give me a job or better compensation as I was unable to work due to the health issues after undergoing chemotherapy. Still I am facing various health issues. The government did not consider my requests. So I have decided to contest in the election as an NDA candidate to register my protest against the government,” she said.

According to Rejani, till the last election, she cast her vote for CPM and her experiences forced her to rethink. Rejani is contesting in Bharanikavu block panchayat from Palamel block division. “I am an ordinary person and I know the problems of the poor. So, I don’t make tall promises. But I will stand with the ordinary people and will try to address their issues,” she said.