A hearing and speech impaired man with other physical challenges is struggling to survive with family by selling newspapers at Lalmonirhat Railway Station.

The man, Aminul Islam, 43, son of a freedom fighter, lives at a slum of Shaheed Shahjahan Colony area in Lalmonirhat town with his wife and three children.

"Aminul Islam is second of my three sons. His two brothers are normal but he is deaf and cannot move his hands and legs normally due to problems since birth," said his father Abdul Gaffar, 65, a freedom fighter.

"Aminul Islam read up to Class II in a local school but could not continue. Later he started selling newspapers in the railway station about 16 years ago.

"He earns Tk 100-120 from selling newspapers daily which is too scanty to meet up family's need. But we never see him taking any help from anybody," he added.

Aminul's wife Jahanara Khatun said, "We can hardly provide meat or fish to our children as my husband's earning is too little. Our children get new dresses only one time in a year. We have no savings."

"I help my husband to take meal as he can't move his hands with ease. Sometimes Aminul weeps as he fails to fulfil our children's demands.

"Our children get help from my father-in-law but he is not so solvent. We want to see our children educated. But we are worried due to poverty," Jahanara said. 

Of their three children, Afroza Khatun is a student of Class II, Afsana Khatun reads in Class I, and Jahidul Islam is four-year-old.

Shamim Ahmed, a railway employee in Lalmonirhat station, said he and several other railway staff purchase newspapers from Aminul Islam everyday.

"After paying the newspaper bill, we sometimes offer additional money to Aminul, but he won't receive it," he said.