What do we tell the kids, ask families of convicts

TEN-YEAR-OLD ROHIT and Saahil, 8, sons of Ram Mehar, have believed for over four years that their father works at a factory in Gurgaon when, in reality, he has been in prison.

Mehar was president of the workers’ union when violence broke out at the Maruti plant in Manesar in 2012.

He was among the 148 workers arrested after the incident and is one of the nine who failed to get bail since.

On Friday, the court held him guilty of murder, with the quantum of punishment to be announced on March 17. “His children are so young and we do not have the heart to tell them the truth,” said his brother, Balwan, a farmer in a village in Kaithal district.

His neighbour Sundra Singh said, “When Ram comes home, his children are confused by the heavy police presence. Ram always lied to them saying the police were there for his security.”

Avtar Singh, a retired post officer from Kurukshetra, has similar concerns. His son, Sarabjit, in his mid-20s, has been convicted. Sarabjit’s wife and five-year-old daughter, who once lived in Manesar with him, have returned to his hometown in Kurukshetra. Singh believes his son, a junior associate at the factory for seven years, is innocent.

“He has always been a sincere, hardworkingchild.wewerehoping to take him back with but we will return empty handed. This case has exhausted our savings, with all the trips back and forth...” said Singh, whose entire family of seven now lives on the earnings of his second son, a driver in Kurukshetra.