Rahima Begum, 78, was married at the age of 15 to a prosperous man in Dhubani village on the Teesta shoal under Lalmonirhat's Hatibandha upazila.

However, only four years later, her husband passed away before they could have a child.

Despite her family's repeated requests to remarry, she chose to stay in her husband's village, determined to spend the rest of her life there. She owned arable land where she cultivated paddy and raised cattle, earning enough to sustain herself and help others in the village.

That was before the Teesta River devoured all her land and homestead, leaving her destitute.

Now old, lonely, landless, and penniless, Rahima spends her days in starvation, largely dependent on assistance from others.

Her neighbours, who were once beneficiaries of her generosity, later built her a hut to live in and have been supporting her with food as much as they can. However, the hut has become dilapidated and nearly uninhabitable due to years of neglect.

"Rahima Begum became a widow without a child, and her relatives never came to look for her. Even though the government allocated houses to many landless people, Rahima couldn't get one for herself.

She can neither work nor move around much because of her age. There is no electricity in her hut. She once helped almost everyone in the village, but now she is in desperate need of help," said Amjad Hossain, 56, a neighbour.

"As neighbours, we try to do as much as we can to support her, but it's not always possible because of our busy schedules," he added.

"My hut has become rundown and could collapse completely any day. I have no money to repair it. I have been wearing the same saree all year because I can't afford a new one. I hardly manage to eat every day. On days when no one gives me food, I am forced to starve," Rahima said.

She has appealed to the government to provide her with a home to live in and some financial assistance to sustain her.

Dulal Hossain, acting upazila nirbahi officer of Hatibandha, said he would inquire about Rahima Begum's situation and arrange support from the upazila administration.