PEHLU’S WIFE SAYS WON’T LET SONS REMAIN IN DAIRY BUSINESS

NEW DELHI : Iddat or the period of mourning has been over for Jebuna Khan, but the grief of losing her husband to a lynch mob has not left her eyes.

Haryana dairy farmer Pehlu Khan’s wife says she is facing acute financial crisis and lives in constant fear but the mother of eight has vowed not to allow her children to buy any more cattle.

“We have two cows and as many calves at home. I told my children not to try to get any more cattle. They can’t continue their father’s business. If possible, we will even sell all our animals,” said Jebuna.

Rajasthan police gave clean chit to all six alleged cow vigilantes who were part of the mob that lynched Pehlu Khan.

All six were named by Khan in his dying declaration to the police, which cited cellphone records and the statement of workers of a cow shelter (run by one of the accused) to exonerate them.

Ever since Pehlu Khan was lynched in Rajasthan’s Alwar on April 1, Jebuna has hardly stepped out of her home in Haryana.

“I have not spoken to the police or authorities. My world is destroyed. I now fear for the life of my children. My eldest son tells me that people are threatening him,” she said weeping.

In her village there are many Hindu families and “all of them support us. “We have no problem with our neighbours. They understand our pain,” she said.

She has little understanding about the legal process but has now realised that her son’s testimony will not bring them justice.

“They say Irshad’s version will not help us. How can that be? He saw his father being killed. He is not lying,” she said, breaking into tears again.