This story was first published on May 10, 2024
A long and winding road leads to Bul Garhi village in Hathras. It바카라s 3 pm. Despite the high temperature, a cool breeze is blowing. Around 150 people are seen sitting under a crimson tent. A Bhagwat Katha has been organised by one of the families in the village. People are fully immersed in the proceedings. A few heads turn as our car moves towards the famous, or infamous, half-built house just across the road. Three CRPF jawans are standing in the courtyard.
We fill the daily visit logbook at the entrance of the house and walk through the metal scanner. The CRPF jawans let us in. A man emerges from the house, tells us to park our car inside for 바카라safety바카라 and quickly escorts us in.
바카라People don바카라t like it when journalists visit us. Sometimes they threaten them,바카라 he says. He points at the tent and says: 바카라The accused and their families are sitting there.바카라
On September 14, 2020, his sister, a 19-year-old Dalit girl, was allegedly gangraped by four upper-caste men. She sustained severe injuries in her spinal cord and her tongue had allegedly been cut off. She struggled for her life for about two weeks but later succumbed to her injuries in Delhi바카라s Safdarjung Hospital.
Her death, and her hushed cremation in the dead of the night, sent shockwaves across the nation. Her brothers allege that she was cremated without the consent of the family. They say they don바카라t even know if it was indeed their sister who was cremated that day. After widespread protests, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
바카라This is how it is now,바카라 the younger of the two brothers says. 바카라The ones who committed the crime are roaming free with their chests swollen with pride as if they바카라ve done something extraordinary. And we, on the other hand, we are prisoners in our own home,바카라 he adds.
Of the four accused, three were acquitted of charges and released in March 2023. The main accused, Sandeep, was sentenced to life imprisonment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The CBI had charged the four accused under Sections 376 (rape), 376 (D) (gang rape), and 302 (murder), along with offences under the SC/ST Act, however, the charges were dropped by a district court in UP.
As the Dalit family still awaits justice four years on, a parallel tragedy has unfolded. The family바카라the girl바카라s two brothers, the elder brother바카라s wife and three children, and the girl바카라s parents바카라is almost out of the compensation money they were given.
바카라We can바카라t go to work. Both of us used to work in Delhi but we had to quit and come here. My children can바카라t go to school. We can바카라t even freely walk in our neighbourhood or go to the market to buy vegetables. Everywhere we go, the CRPF jawans accompany us. We are literally under house arrest. We can바카라t even take our cattle out,바카라 the elder brother says.
The Dalit family says they바카라ve had to bear the expenses of travel to the High Court and the Supreme Court multiple times, booking private taxis that charge exorbitant amounts of money. 바카라On top of that, all our living expenses have come out of the Rs 25 lakh compensation, but we are almost out of it now. What do we do? The government had promised to accommodate us because living in this village isn바카라t safe but nothing has been given to us yet,바카라 says the elder brother.
While the situation has deteriorated for the family, the accused, the brothers say, have been on a road to economic prosperity ever since they were released. 바카라One of them recently bought a tractor and another bought a piece of land. The case had made international headlines and all their names had become public but they don바카라t seem to care at all. In fact, they actually feel invincible,바카라 he adds.
Being one of the only three families in a village dominated by Thakurs and Brahmins, survival has been hard, the brothers say. 바카라The caste divisions just got more pronounced when the incident happened. We had good relations with most people but the minute this happened, everyone turned their backs. We were shocked how people could stand with the perpetrators just because they belonged to the same caste. Where is their humanity?바카라 asks the younger brother.
They say the situation would have played out differently if the accused was a Dalit and the girl belonged to an upper-caste family. 바카라We are like that insect which can be squeezed between one바카라s fingertips,바카라 the elder brother says.
***
In another part of Hathras, in Nayee Nagla, an area dominated by the Valmiki community, a feeling of betrayal washes over the residents. A young safai karmachari speaks up on behalf of the locals who바카라ve gathered in the congested lane. 바카라I have a question for Yogi ji. If your administration is so strict, these people committing crimes like rapes and thefts, where are they getting the courage from?바카라 he asks.
The Valmiki community, which forms a major part of the population in Hathras, has been disappointed by the way the case was handled, with some saying that it had shown them where their community actually stands in society. The gangrape case has emerged as a poll issue.
바카라Jo humari raksha na kar sake use kya vote dein (how can we vote for someone who can바카라t ensure our safety),바카라 Meena Devi, who works as a cleaner at a hospital during the night, says. 바카라The girl did not get justice. They released the three accused. One day, the fourth one will also come out,바카라 she adds.
The people gathered in the lane said they fear sending their girls to school after they grow up a bit. 바카라What if someone pounces on them in the market, or on their way home? And I바카라m talking about the main city where we are in such big numbers. I can바카라t even imagine the treatment that people from our community must get as the only Dalit families in a village full of upper caste people,바카라 says Vishal Valmiki, a safai karmachari.
Apart from women바카라s safety, rising unemployment, lack of educational access and inflation are some other issues, the community says, which are driving them to the brink of poverty and making their survival a challenge.
바카라We are daily wage labourers. Depending on what we manage to earn, we eat accordingly. Sometimes, we eat leftovers the next day. This is the crux of our survival. We don바카라t have any savings,바카라 says Kuku Kumar Valmiki, a resident of Nayee Nagla. 바카라Our community has been reduced to dirt. We are nothing. We now want a change in leadership. We need to secure our rights,바카라 he adds. When asked to comment on the Ram temple hundreds of kilometres away, he says: 바카라Even if we dress up wearing our best clothes and go to the Ram temple, we will be denied entry. We are Valmikis, so no Ram Rajya for us.바카라
***
About 120 km away, in Budaun바카라s Sahaswan tehsil, locals are facing a different but similar struggle for survival. In Ismailpur, a village identified by an NGO, Model Village Trust, as one of the most backward, locals are awaiting 바카라the fortunate day바카라 when a government official would visit for reasons other than campaigning. Dusty unpaved tracks lead into the village and the first question we are asked by the locals as we reach is: 바카라Gaadi theek hai aapki?바카라 (Is your car fine?)
The roads, or the lack thereof, have been a major issue faced by the residents for decades. And when the river, by which the village lies, swells up during the monsoon season, the entire village goes under. The flooding turns the village into an island, cutting off access to the mainland. To go anywhere, the locals have to use boats.
For weeks, or sometimes months, the residents have to find work in the village itself and the children have to miss out on school. 바카라No one in this village has ever graduated from high school. Everyone drops out after class five because there바카라s no school in the vicinity that offers secondary education,바카라 Model Village Trust coordinator Ajmal Husain says. Roshan Bi, a local who is a member of the committee formed by the NGO, says the villagers want their children to be educated but have no option due to the remoteness. 바카라No one will be happier than us if a school is built here,바카라 Farzana, another local, says.
Most of the Ismailpur residents either chop wood or work in brick kilns. Many used to be farming families but switched to other work when they incurred losses due to climate change.
Another industry facing a setback is the horn craft and bone handicraft industry in Sambhal. Traditional craftsmen, who have been doing this work for decades, say the lack of government incentives has forced the industry into decline.
Mohammad Nazir, the owner of a horn craft workshop, says they바카라ve stopped making the traditional items due to lack of demand. 바카라There has been a complete change in the kind of items we used to make바카라like combs, walking sticks and spectacles frames. Now we mostly make mugs and drinking horns, and these are exported. There바카라s no local market here.바카라
Nazir says the government recently announced it was giving aid to craftsmen to promote the craft 바카라but only bigger workshop owners got together to form a committee and got the benefit from it, the common man didn바카라t get anything.바카라
In the lanes of Sarai Tarin in Sambhal, a whirring sound is heard and a cloud of white dust is seen before Shafique Ibrahim바카라s bone craft karkhana comes into view. He sits cross-legged and places a tiny cuboidal piece he just polished on the frame placed in front of him. 바카라This is a photo frame. It has over a hundred such tiny pieces. It바카라s not easy work. It takes half a day to make one frame.바카라
The craftsman, who has been in the business for over two decades, says the market was once thriving. 바카라There바카라s nothing now, we are hardly getting by. We would appreciate some help from the government in furthering our craft,바카라 he says. 바카라And if nothing for the business, then at least help us with our medical expenses. We inhale bone dust every day. All of us have developed respiratory illnesses, some worse than others.바카라
Zaina Azhar Sayeda in Hathras, Budaun and Sambhal
(This appeared in the print as 'Lullaby for Loss')
