With the Home Office determined to deport her back to India, the Rentia Family Anti-Deportation Campaign was launched. It soon attracted widespread support from her school.

Describing her condition, Zarine once wrote: “I didn’t know the meaning of life, freedom or independence in India. I couldn’t walk; I had no friends, no school, nothing. My mum had to carry me in her arms till I was 12 years old. My mother and father took me to six different schools in India but no school was ready to give me admission or to take responsibility for a disabled child. I am physically disabled, not mentally.”

Eighteen months ago Zarine arrived at the South Camden Community School that specialised in the education for disabled children to begin a new and the final chapter in her life. “Zarine joined at the beginning of Year 10?”, remembers Leeke. “Previously she had attended a special school in Hackney, but she was making such rapid progress in her learning that she needed the wider opportunities in order to reach her full potential. She immediately made a huge impression on everyone.”

“She was always one topic ahead of everyone,” said classmate Sahra Sulley, 15. “She would help you with work if you were stressed or behind. Seeing her every day happy and smiling, I never thought she had such an illness. I remember seeing her every day in the maths class. Whenever I look over at where she used to sit it’s just an empty space without her beautiful smile.”

... contd.