US Green Card holder, MBAs, teachers among beggars caught in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: City commissioner’s forceful ban on begging ahead of GES 2017 is uncovering unexpected reality stories of city people who are caught in misery and are left to crumble under the harsh blows of life.
According to a news published in DC quote that among the various beggars caught after the imposed ban, a 50-year-old educated woman Ms. Farzona caught at Langer Houz is an MBA graduate and had previously worked as an accounts officer in London.
She was taken to the shelter for beggars at Anand Ashram that is run by the prisons department inside Cherlapalli Central Prison where her real life story unfolded.
Speaking about one of his inmates, Ashram incharge K. Arjun Rao, superintendent of the Cherlapalli open-air jail, said “For the past two years, she has been facing hurdles in her life. She lost her husband and was staying with her son, an architect, and his family, in Anandbagh. She went to a godman seeking a remedy for the impediments she was facing in her job and personal life. He asked her to become a beggar to overturn her tashil (ill luck). We released her after her son submitted an affidavit.”
The Shelter staff also said that during Ms. Farzona’s stay the inmates of the Ashram would call her “madam”.
An inmate said, “When we tried to talk to her, she was able to reply in fluent English.”
Another unlucky story unraveled was of a 44-year-old Ms Rabiya Baseera who was a green card holder.
This lady who had worked in the USA for years was caught begging at a dargah in the city.
Mr Arjun Rao speaking of this lady said being cheated by her own relatives brought Ms Baseera to begging. He said, “She speaks fluent English and when she explained her story, we had tears in our eyes. She was well-settled and owned properties in the city. But a few of her relatives cheated her out of her wealth. After she was caught begging, some of her relatives gave us a declaration that they would take care of her and took her with them.”
The prison department in coordination with NGO, GHMC and the police have organized a special drive to rehabilitate city beggars.