Father of girl, who cycled to Bihar with him during national lockdown, dies

New Delhi: Jyoti Kumari, the 15-year-old girl, who cycled 1,200 kilometres from Gurugram to Bihar's Darbhanga with her injured father riding pillion during the national lockdown, over a year ago, lost him to cardiac arrest.

Jyoti Kumari was in Gurugram to visit her father Mohan Paswan, an e-rickshaw driver, in March last year after an accident forced him to stay at home.

Once the lockdown was enforced and public transport shut off, she cycled with her father for seven days, going hungry for two of those, before reaching home; they had so little money she even had to borrow to buy the cycle.

She became the face of migrant workers' plight as tens of thousands of men, pregnant women and children had to walk, or cycle, hundreds of kilometres to reach home.

Jyoti Kumari's remarkable feat earned her the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar. She was also offered free tuition to appear for the IIT-JEE by Anand Kumar, founder of the coaching centre Super 30.

Bihar's Lok Janshakti Party also offered to sponsor her education "in any stream she chooses". Jyoti Kumari and her family have also been offered Rs 1 lakh aid by Uttar Pradesh's Samajwadi Party.