In Kangra’s ‘cursed family’, males go blind at 25

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Megha Mohan

Posted: Friday , April 07, 2006
Ludhiana This is shocking: three members of a family from Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, presently undergoing treatment at CMCH, say every male person of their lineage has gone blind on turning 25.
With two generations having already lost their vision, the cousins said more than fretting about ways to make both ends meet — itself a daunting task — they are more worried about the younger lot. And their vision.
Spotted at a medical camp organised in the district by the Bibi Manmohan Kaur Memorial Welfare Society, the threesome said they were brought to the city’s Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for treatment. The family, they said, earns its bread by doing small chores like mowing lawns, mopping floors, gardening et al for other households.
‘‘Our grandfather’s three sons went blind after turning 25,” said Veeru Deen, 23, currently undergoing treatment at CMCH along with two other cousins: Jumna Deen, 24, and Khuda Baksh, 18. “Though our grandfather is alright, the next two generations have suffered a lot.’’
Veeru said seven members of the family — including one of his sister and her husband — also turned blind once they turned 25.
He said the family’s eldest surviving member who lost vision is Sarajdeen, 60, who turned blind 35 years ago — when he turned 25.
“Both his (Sarajdeen’s) brothers also turned blind,” Veeru said, ‘‘and when my father and both uncles turned blind, we thought it was a curse on our family and immediately shifted our house.”
Though Veeru and Khuda Baksh have perfect visions, Jumna Deen is suffering from acute low vision. ‘‘We vowed to help them after coming across this family, and brought them here,’’ Harminder Singh, the Welfare Society’s president, said, as CMCH project officer Emanuel nodded in acknowledgment.
Dr Harpreet Kaur, an associate professor at CMCH who is treating the trio, said they are suffering from retina degeneration problem. ‘‘This is a genetic disorder,” she said, “and since people marry cousins in the Muslim community, the disorder does not fade away and instead keeps circulating in the whole clan.’’
Stressing that the problem has no cure, Dr Kaur said the medical experts can only delay the inevitable with medicines “and give (them) high-powered vision spectacles. But the permanent cure lies in encouraging them not to marry cousins (even distant ones). This way the future generations could be saved.’’