UDAIPUR: Emotions pour out uncontrollably as an angry Yashoda, without compunction, calls to stab Mohammed Rafique and Abdul Jabbar, the two Muslim men who beheaded her husband Kanhiya Lal Teli, a tailor in full public view on Thursday.
“They should face the same fate that they had handed to my husband. They should be stabbed the same number of times as my husband was. I won’t feel satisfied as long as I don’t see the same happening to them,” Yashoda bares out in her telltale outburst with The New Indian at the family’s decrepit home at Sector 14 in Udaipur’s Hiran Magri.
But it’s their son Yash, who makes a startling claim to bust the Gehlot government’s theory. He punches holes in Gehlot’s statement or by Congress spokespersons that Rajasthan Police had brokered peace and resolved the differences with the Muslim community after they threatened him between June 8-11.
“This whole incident took place in a span of 20-25 days. We were constantly threatened and the shop was also under surveillance by the accused. We complained to the police authorities regarding the same but no action was taken against them by the Dhan Mandi Thane official,” says Yash.
He finds a painful irony in how his father was detained at Dhan Mandi police station for 24 hours after he registered an FIR against Muslim neighbours.
“Look at the paradox. My father had no criminal background still it was difficult to get him released on bail. Though he was released on Sunday, only because of his clean background,” says Yash.
The family reveals that the Rajasthan Police kept exhorting them to install CCTVs instead of providing a security cover despite Kanhaiya’s explicit letter on June 15 explaining the threat from his neighbour Najim and his four-five associates who would do recce at his shop.
“The police advised us to install CCTV cameras at our residence and be cautious. It’s the police that should have been more vigilant and sent constables for our protection as this was a life or death situation. My father would have been alive if cops had not lied,” he said.
As the mourners continue to file in, Kanhaiya’s sister Nima bereaves with a visible criticism of Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot who visited them on Friday.
“CM came here. But he ordered to call my sister-in-law Yashodha down. And out of fear and respect, we couldn’t open up to him. He should have been courteous to the express sense of guilt or condolences by going to her,” says Nima.
As anger grows inside her, she mounts an acerbic attack on the accused repeating the sentiments shared by Kanhaiya’s wife. “The killers should be dealt with the same way. That’s what we want,” she adds.
Between them, Yashoda makes even more damning disclosures as she continues to vent out.
“While he was being threatened, we chose to close the shop for 4-5 days. Only when he walked out on bail, did we open our shop back. We didn’t want to open the shop but then he would ask how he will feed the children if we don’t open the tailoring business again,” says Yashodha. “We would get nervous even to go out to bring the groceries from outside. So he did everything to protect us but lost his life,” she adds.
As The New Indian team begins to leave, the family makes an appeal, saying the links of the accused with Pakistan or terror outfits must be exposed to save the lives of more people and instil fear.
“This has become ‘International news’ but I hope my father’s killers are exposed to the terror network,” says Yash.