‘Can you tell me something about my husband?’
WIFE OF GANGRAPE AND MURDER ACCUSED WHO DIED IN CUSTODY YET TO KNOW ABOUT IT
HILAILA(KOTKHAI): Ringed by snowcapped mountains and scenic apple orchards, the small village of Hilaila in Himachal Pradesh’s Kotkhai is breathtaking in its beauty. On Thursday, though, it was grief that was most noticeable as locals trekked up a hill to the forest hut of 22-year-old Mamata Singh.
Her husband Suraj was an accused in the gangrape and murder of a 16-year-old local schoolgirl until he died in a scuffle in police custody early on Wednesday, sparking violent protests across the state where such incidences are unheard of.
Mamata, though, is yet to learn about Suraj’s death and is distraught that her 29-year-old husband hasn’t returned home.
“Can you tell me something about my husband? Where is he? No one says anything,” a tearyeyed Mamata asks. “I don’t know whether he is dead or alive, our children ask me about his whereabouts every day.”
The children — five-year-old Samir and seven-year-old Asha — hover outside their hut under a thick canopy of deodar trees.
But the agony that has hit this village of 15 families is giving way to an unlikely bonhomie. Sitting next to Mamata and consoling her is Kesari Devi, the 62-year-old mother of Rajender Singh, another accused in the case who police say killed Suraj inside Kotkhai police station.
Kesari lives in a neighbouring hut and doesn’t believe her son killed either the girl or Suraj. “I have said it a million times and say it again: my son is innocent, the police are implicating him.”
The two women are united in fear and worry the police will come looking for them. Mamata says Suraj was a hard-working daily wage earner at a nearby orchard and was in mourning over the death of their five-yearold daughter Kaali last Diwali.
Mamata, who married Suraj seven years ago, says she visited him in custody soon after his arrest. “He did not say anything but I know he was being tortured… we are yet to come out of mourning. If my husband doesn’t return, how will I fend for my family?”
Police claim Suraj and others abducted the girl and then raped her, before killing her. But Kesari Devi says the police version of events doesn’t add up.
“Why would my son throw her (the girl’s) body in a ditch so close to our house if he had killed her ?” she asks.
Suraj was picked up along with five others on July 13 for questioning after pressure mounted on the state police.