My name is Kamluddin, aged 53 years and son of late Mohd Ayub. I am a native of Dhamaria under Lohta police station in Varanasi district. My family comprises my wife Bubbun and 7 children. I own a small tea shop for eking out a living.
On July 25, 2018, I had barely reached Dhamaria water tank around 7:30 in the morning, when a motorcycle suddenly stopped near me. The two occupants forcibly took me to the police station, where I got to know that they were a cop and the maternal uncle of the girl. The cops repeatedly asked me about my son Shahbuddin. I told them that I did not know anything about him, but they slapped me several times.
On getting to know, my family members soon came to the police station. The girl’s relatives, who were already present there, started to misbehave with them and issued threats that things would only get worse now and there would also be bloodshed. The cops only stayed as mute spectators. A social worker Shahnawas was also a witness to this misbehaviour. He helped my female family members to go back home. I was in lockup during that time and was livid on getting to know about it. All this while, the police continued to ask me about my son.
I was so vexed that I could comprehend what was happening. My family was being framed. We had no enmity with Salimunnisa and her husband Abdul Qayum. We shared good rapport. At the girl’s mother behest, I had deposited Rs 24,000 in a bank over her guarantee, of which she has only returned Rs 10,000, while Rs 14,000 is still overdue.
Their house is about a bigha away from our house. On July 4, 2018, their daughter Gulfasa did not return from school. Like others, I also got to know about it. However, we were busy in our works.
That night, when my son Parvez was returning home after closing the shop, Lohta police intercepted him and took him away. I was still unclear as to why the police picked him up.
On the third day i.e. July 7, 2018, my other son Riyasuddin was picked up in the afternoon and freed at 10 in the night after interrogation. I started to get tense since that day as to why the police was after my children. I was petrified and asked my children not to wander outside without work.
The police was continuously on the prowl of my kids. On July 18, 2018, my third son (13 years) was sitting in my shop, when cops came and started pulling his hair and beating him. I was livid at their conduct. I am a poor man and the police, at the instance of the girl’s family, is harassing me and my relatives. I even sent letters to the concerned officials seeking help. Then, a BJP leader advised me to give Rs 10,000 to the cops to avoid such harassment. On July 24, we managed to give Rs 8,000, while Rs 2,000 was to be given the following day.
On one hand, while police had kept me confined to the police station interrogating me about my son, while on other, plain clothed cops, along with the girl’s relatives, were trying to enter houses in Kahai Sarai. When people objected, the cops pretended to have been taken hostage and shared the video, which became viral. I got to know about it, when the people of the locality were being rounded up in the evening. I regretted why innocent people were being picked up. To preempt any trouble, the police confined them in different police stations.
So far, police has only harassed me without any purpose. To hide their misdeeds, they booked several people falsely and put them behind bars. I was also kept in the police station for 3 days and harassed. Our life has become hell since the girl has gone missing. My family and relatives have not lived in peace ever since.
We fail to understand, why we have been subjected to all this trouble. Many families have been ruined due to the police’s unjustified approach. People are petrified. Livelihoods have been lost. People have been forced to live away due to the fear of cops.
People are still terrified. Due to the bail order by the hon’ble high court, we are free, yet the fear of arrest still haunts us. All these unpleasant memories play before my eyes, when I try to sleep at night. I am worried about my children’s future. I do not feel like going anywhere and always feel restless.
I want action should be taken against those policemen, who continue to harass us and that we are honourably exonerated.
Interviewer Farhat Shaba Khanam
Victim Kamluddin
Translated by Mr. Ashish Awasthi
