Hyderabad woman in Chicago: Indian Consulate offers to fly student home
Zaidi was suffering from major depression and was in a mentally unstable condition due to the financial situation she got into, as she couldn't get a job
By Sri Lakshmi Muttevi Published on 8 Aug 2023 5:02 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Consulate General of India in Chicago has offered help to Hyderabad woman Syeda Zaidi who had been stranded on the streets of Chicago in Illinois. However, she is yet to respond to the offer.
Zaidi, a resident of Maula Ali in Telangana, went to pursue her Master's at TRINE University in Detroit in August 2021. She lost her belongings including her certificates and wallet. She was found on the streets of Chicago in a depressed condition.
On August 5, the Consulate General of India in Chicago posted on Twitter, saying: “Happy that we could contact Syeda Zaidi and offer help, including medical assistance & travel to India. She is fit & spoken to her mother in India. She is yet to respond to our offer of support to return to India. We stand ready to extend all assistance to her.”.
Around 15 days ago, a video of Zaidi went viral where she was spotted on Chicago's roads, starving. She was later admitted to the hospital for treatment by a social worker.
Zaidi was suffering from major depression and was in a mentally unstable condition due to the financial situation she got into, as she couldn't get a job. When she was in Hyderabad, she worked as a teacher at Shadan College.
Her 63-year-old mother, Syeda Wahaj Fatima, immediately reached out to the Minister of External Affairs seeking help. Her mother, who saw the video, was shocked to see her daughter in such a condition.
It has been almost two months since the parents lost contact with their daughter. Fathima wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asking him to intervene and bring her daughter back to India.
"I spoke to my daughter after she was given treatment at the hospital but she is still not actively speaking. We haven't received any update on her return to India. Meanwhile, we are asking the officials if they could send us to the US," Fathima told News Meter.
In the letter to the minister earlier, the mother described her daughter's ordeal: "My daughter Syeda Lulu Minhaj Zaidi was often in touch with us. But, for the past two months, she has not been in touch with me. Recently, we came to know through two Hyderabad youth that my daughter is in depression and someone stole her belongings which left her to starvation. My daughter was spotted on the roads of Chicago in the USA," she said
The letter surfaced on social media after BRS leader Khaleequr Rahaman shared it on his Twitter handle. Zaidi was later treated at a hospital. The consulate is waiting for her to recover to make further decision.
