'Overwhelmed, will go for trial called by CFI': Bihar girl who cycled over 1,200 km home with injured father

Fifteen-year-old Jyoti Kumari, who cycled with her wounded father from Gurugram in Haryana to Darbhanga in Bihar covering over 1,200 km in around 7 days, is receiving help from all quarters, be it politics, civil society or administration.

Jyoti Kumari confirmed that she will attend the trial called by Cycle Federation of India (CFI). "I will go for trial called by the Cycle Federation of India (CFI), but I need time. I will practise here in my village for two-three months before going for the trail in Delhi," Jyoti told .

"People are showering their blessings on me. They have gifted me study-related materials. People from all the parties came to meet me. I am overwhelmed. I was living with my father in Gurugram. He was working as a driver there. I will study here only. I am thankful to everyone and I am feeling great that people across the world are knowing about me," she added.

Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump's daughter on Friday took to the Twitter and heaped praises on Jyoti, stating that the "beautiful feat of endurance and love has captured the imagination of the Indian people and the cycling federation".

Jyoti Kumari's father Mohan Paswan said that he is proud of his daughter.

"I had an accident in January. My brother-in-law along with my wife and daughter visited me there. My wife and brother-in-law came earlier. My daughter, Jyoti stayed there for taking care of me. She cooked food for me there. Then in March onwards, we were stranded in Lockdown. In lockdown 3.0 we ran out of money. We purchased a cycle and we travelled to our state. I was not in a position to ride the cycle due. I am proud of my daughter. If she did not bring me here, I would have died there," he said.

"I will not go to another city for livelihood if the government will provide jobs to me here in my village," he added,

Paswan said that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejasvi Yadav has given Rs 50,000 to Jyoti.

"Rabri Devi and Tejasvi talked to our family and promised to help in daughter's studies. They also promised to bear my daughter's wedding expenditure and give her a job when they will be in power," he said.

"Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has donated cycle. Many people are donating in my daughter's account," he added.

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha also donated Rs 25,000 to Jyoti.

"#JyotiKumari has become an example for the youth of the world by showing courage, determination. Talked to Jyoti, her elder sister and father by telephone. They are all the best examples of humility in time of crisis. I am donating Rs 25,000 as a token of encouragement. Jyoti, you are Jyoti," Sinha tweeted (in Hindi) on Saturday.

When asked if any person from Janata Dal (United) JDU visited, he said: "I was in quarantine, I do not know. But, I think they would have come."

The father-daughter duo faced severe hardship after the lockdown was imposed as they neither had money to pay house rent nor to bear travel expense to move their home. Thus, Jyoti decided to take back his father to their village on a bicycle. She left Gurugram on May 10 and arrived in Darbhanga in 7 days.

People on social media have shown a lot of support to Jyoti and compared her to the character of Shravan Kumar from the epic Ramayana, who took his blind and disabled parents on a pilgrimage with his mother and father seated in baskets hanging at the ends of a pole he carried on his shoulders.

( With inputs from ANI )