Woman who rode 1400 km for son in lockdown now worried as he is stuck in Ukraine

A single mother, who once rode nearly 1,400 kms on a scooter during the coronavirus-induced lockdown in 2020 to bring her son back home, has been frantic with worry about the 19-year-old boy who is now stranded in war-hit Ukraine along with several Indian students. Razia Begum, a teacher at a government school in Telangana's Nizamabad district, is praying for the safe return of her son Nizamuddin Aman, who is an MBBS first year student at Sumy in the eastern European nation.

Sumy is situated close to the Russian border and most of the Indian students stuck there belong to the Sumy State Medical University.

Razia Begum urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, and state Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali to take steps to ensure the safe return of her son and other Indian students amid the tense situation in Ukraine. Nizamuddin Aman is staying put in bunkers and is communicating with her over phone, Razia Begum told PTI on Thursday, March 3.

"He called to reassure me that he is okay and that I need not worry about him," she said. Transportation links with the place he is staying are said to have been cut off.

Two years ago, Razia Begum undertook a long and arduous journey, to bring back her son stranded in Nellore district in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh following imposition of nation-wide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. With local police permission, she rode alone to Nellore and had returned with her younger son, showing an endurance level even seasoned rallyists would find hard to match.

She began the journey on the morning of April 6, 2020, and reached Nellore the next afternoon. She left for her home town on the same day along with her son and reached Bodhan on the evening of April 8, 2020. She had packed rotis to eat along the way, making stops at fuel stations. Razia, who lost her husband more than 16 years ago, had been living with her two sons, an engineering graduate, and Nizamuddin, who was preparing for the MBBS entrance exam. (PTI)