Visually challenged researcher loses laptop on Kozhikode Beach, campaign to trace it on

Visually challenged researcher loses laptop on Kozhikode Beach campaign to trace it on
Sayujya's study and research have almost come to a stand still for now. Photo: Manorama

Kozhikode: For C S Sayujya, a researcher at the Calicut University, her lap was not just a learning tool. The laptop was eyes of the visually disabled researcher. All her notes since graduation that she had written in connection with the research work were stored in the laptop.

To her horror, the laptop and her bag went missing from the Kozhikode Beach on November 3. They were robbed after she had arrived there along with her friends in a car.

The laptop which was lying on the rear seat of the car, parked near the All-India Radio station, was stolen by some one along with the bag.

Trough the police conducted a search, no leads have been received so far. Meanwhile, Sayujya's study and research have almost come to a stand still for now.

The laptop contained software including screen reader meant for visually disabled people, journals collected by her so far and PDF files.

The bag contained equipment such as Braille board, stylus and white key. It was only after returning to the University that she realised that her laptop and bag had been stolen.

Sayujya cannot read books like others. "I feel I have actually lost my eye sight now," she says. It was because of the technology that she could reach this level despite all her limitations.

Initially, a complaint was registered at the Thenipalam police station. However, since the incident took place in Kozhikode she was asked to lodge the complaint in city.

Sayujya went to Kozhikode and registered the complaint with the Kozhikode Town Police station. But the police has not been able to trace the thief or the stolen laptop yet.

Sayujya, a native of Ettumuttom, Thrissur, bought the HP laptop before joining for PhD in the English Department at Calicut University last year.

Sayujya suspects that the laptop could have been sold to someone who deals in old laptops in Kozhikode or Malappuram district. She has appealed that if any anyone gets that laptop the same may be handed back to her at the earliest.

She is ready to pay the money that traders might have spent to procure the stolen laptop.

The researcher knows that there is no point in getting a new laptop. In case if she is not able to get back all her educational notes, PDF and software meant for visually disabled, then it would be a big loss.

Meanwhile, Research Scholars Collective of Calicut University has launched a campaign in connection with Sayujya's stolen laptop on social media.

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