My name is Rifat Jahan, aged 30 years and daughter of Mohd Allauddin. I have studied till B.A. We are 4 brothers and 4 sisters. My elder sister is married and I am 2nd of the siblings. My 3rd sister is 25 years, 4th sister Jainab 24 years, brothers Samir (22), Salman (21), Aman (19) and Abdullah alias Guddu (14). We belong to a middle class family and have to earn daily for livelihood. In the name of property, we only have a house, which is also eyed by land mafia. We are still bearing its consequences.
I am a native of CK 50/43, Hakak Tola, police station Chowk, tehsil Sadar, Varanasi district. In our family, my father, brother Samir and I work to sustain the family and to bear the court expenses. For the past about 2 years, the police has robbed us of our peace.
On September 10, 2018, police ‘again’ came knocking at our doors to target my 14 year old brother. It was 11 am and I was in the bathroom, while my brother Guddu was sleeping. On answering the knocks, I saw police outpost in charge Bhadauria and constables namely Chandrika Singh and Surendra Yadav at our door. They darted inside to catch my younger brother, who got scared and rushed to my mother. The cops tried to forcibly take him away, however, my mother, who was that time nursing a broken rib and wearing a supporting belt, tried to protect him frantically. However, Bhadauria thrust a gun in her mouth and used foul language, saying my mother was trying to act like a ‘gunda’. My mother is a heart patient.
The police had overpowered my entire family. Three policemen had caught hold of my father. They searched my house, although they were not accompanied by any woman cop. We only pled as to why they were acting in such brazen manner and that my brother was still too young. What did my 2 brothers do that the police was running their lives is all we have been seeking to know. At this, Bhadauria snatched at my sister Rahat, which chaffed her skin. They also threatened me that they would slap section 216 against me for sheltering a criminal, and ruin my life.
After half an hour, they called woman cops and took away my sister and brother to the police outpost at gun point. The entire neighbourhood watched this scene in silence.
I was pained to see that the police was taking away a student of class 9 as if he was a big criminal. When someone dared to ask them why they were taking him away, the cops yelled that he too should be rounded up along with my brother. Thereafter, none could gather the courage to question them. At the outpost, he was severely beaten up by Bhadauria with a baton. He kept screaming in pain, but the police showed no mercy on my brother. I could see him being beaten up, but was helpless to do anything. Police kept my brother at the outpost from 11:30 in the morning till 7:30 in the evening. Later, he was freed.
Due to these cops, my 2 brother spent several months in jail. We have been running around police stations and courts for the past 2 years. I can never forget that fateful day ever, which continues to haunt me at times.
On February 3, 2016, the police outpost in charge and a constable had for the first time came to our house at 2:30 in the night. There were 3 sisters in the house then, but cops vandalized several items. We had become so scared of the police that we decided to send our brothers and sisters to our relatives’ place.
On the 3rd day, we read in the newspaper that my brother Aman and Salman were branded shooters by the police. This stigmatized my family’s honour. My brothers were implicated in a false case by Nai Sadak coporator Arshad that they had tried to shoot another corprorator, Vikky Khan, although the latter is himself a history sheeter. For this, my brothers Aman (17) and Salman (19) had to spent 5 months in jail. They were booked under Gangster Act and section 307 of IPC. The Gangster Act charges were slapped after 2 months, for which we got the bail from the high court.
After 6 months, a trader Sunil Nigam, who is Vikky’s friend, lodged an FIR against unknown persons for seeking extortion money and shooting in the air. Later, my brother’s name was added during probe. Gangster Act was again invoked citing the new case. We again sought bail for him. This was getting too much for us and to get rid of this routine affair, we took a house on rent at Mind House, Nadesar. However, our hope of getting some peace was soon dashed.
On August 19, 2017, crime branch in charge Omnarayan Singh of crime branch and police outpost in chare Ramesh Chandra Mishra came in civil dress asking for Aman, who was home. They started assaulting him and took him away for interrogation. They had not disclosed their identity till then.
My elder brother Samir had also arrived from shop then. When he asked, they simply took away Rs 50,000 he was carrying apart from our mobile phones, without telling anything. When, we went to the Cantonment police station, they said goons must have abducted my brother. This made us even more worried. When we returned home, our neighbour Vijay Jaiswal informed that the crime branch sleuths had rounded him up for interrogation.
In desperation, we dialed 100, registered complaint on the CM portal, went to the newspaper offices and the SSP. Later, we got to know that he was booked under Gangster Act and my brother Aman was kept at the police lines. For interrogation, he was given electric shock on hands and limbs, which had gotten swollen.
We were still not getting any information and we continued to run helter-skelter. We feared of getting any bad news. My brother was made to call several numbers from the police lines.
My brothers were later booked over a fake encounter occurring on August 22, 2017 in Shivpur. The recovery of an SUV (Bolera) was also shown by police. They were also booked for firing on the police and recovery of stolen mobile phones. They were taken for treatment and sent to jail under arms act.
The police have completely ruined the life of my brother. He wanted to complete B. Tech and lead a respectful life, but police made him a criminal. Salman and Aman got bail in November and December respectively. We got our mobiles on the direction of the court on the basis of our mobile bills.
He was in police custody on August 22, when Durgesh Kumar Patwa was threatened for Rs 2 lakh extortion money. Interestingly, the police had come searching for Aman in the same case on July 5, although he was not home. We got to know from the police outpost that it was one year old case.
The person who was threatened for extortion did not know Aman and he had only complaint under the pressure from police, which has conspired to implicate my 2 brothers. They used to pick up my brothers from home, but show their arrests from elsewhere. Now, they are targetting my 3rd brother. What have we done to them to deserve this?
Today, we are so terrified of police that we can’t sleep at night and always apprehend that cops would come knocking anytime asking for another brother. Now, even our relatives and neighbours do not want to engage with us. People allege that to fight poverty, our brothers were indulging in unlawful activities. This pains us immensely.
My family is enduring this trauma. We sometimes go hungry for days together, while our parents regret this situation. I am the eldest, so I run around for fighting their cases. However, even I am threatened by cops for implication. I always think about the destiny of my family in such circumstances. I just pray to god seeking strength to stand up for the safety of my family.
I just want to know from the police, at whose instigation, they are targetting my family and ruining our careers. I just want that my family lives in peace.
Those who have implicated my brothers in false cases and exploited my family so much, must be taken to task for causing enormous mental and physical trauma to us. They must get severe punishment and we be allowed to live with dignity.
Interviewer Chhaya Kumari
Victim Rifat Jahan
Translated by Mr. Ashish Awasthi
I am a native of CK 50/43, Hakak Tola, police station Chowk, tehsil Sadar, Varanasi district. In our family, my father, brother Samir and I work to sustain the family and to bear the court expenses. For the past about 2 years, the police has robbed us of our peace.
On September 10, 2018, police ‘again’ came knocking at our doors to target my 14 year old brother. It was 11 am and I was in the bathroom, while my brother Guddu was sleeping. On answering the knocks, I saw police outpost in charge Bhadauria and constables namely Chandrika Singh and Surendra Yadav at our door. They darted inside to catch my younger brother, who got scared and rushed to my mother. The cops tried to forcibly take him away, however, my mother, who was that time nursing a broken rib and wearing a supporting belt, tried to protect him frantically. However, Bhadauria thrust a gun in her mouth and used foul language, saying my mother was trying to act like a ‘gunda’. My mother is a heart patient.
The police had overpowered my entire family. Three policemen had caught hold of my father. They searched my house, although they were not accompanied by any woman cop. We only pled as to why they were acting in such brazen manner and that my brother was still too young. What did my 2 brothers do that the police was running their lives is all we have been seeking to know. At this, Bhadauria snatched at my sister Rahat, which chaffed her skin. They also threatened me that they would slap section 216 against me for sheltering a criminal, and ruin my life.
After half an hour, they called woman cops and took away my sister and brother to the police outpost at gun point. The entire neighbourhood watched this scene in silence.
I was pained to see that the police was taking away a student of class 9 as if he was a big criminal. When someone dared to ask them why they were taking him away, the cops yelled that he too should be rounded up along with my brother. Thereafter, none could gather the courage to question them. At the outpost, he was severely beaten up by Bhadauria with a baton. He kept screaming in pain, but the police showed no mercy on my brother. I could see him being beaten up, but was helpless to do anything. Police kept my brother at the outpost from 11:30 in the morning till 7:30 in the evening. Later, he was freed.
Due to these cops, my 2 brother spent several months in jail. We have been running around police stations and courts for the past 2 years. I can never forget that fateful day ever, which continues to haunt me at times.
On February 3, 2016, the police outpost in charge and a constable had for the first time came to our house at 2:30 in the night. There were 3 sisters in the house then, but cops vandalized several items. We had become so scared of the police that we decided to send our brothers and sisters to our relatives’ place.
On the 3rd day, we read in the newspaper that my brother Aman and Salman were branded shooters by the police. This stigmatized my family’s honour. My brothers were implicated in a false case by Nai Sadak coporator Arshad that they had tried to shoot another corprorator, Vikky Khan, although the latter is himself a history sheeter. For this, my brothers Aman (17) and Salman (19) had to spent 5 months in jail. They were booked under Gangster Act and section 307 of IPC. The Gangster Act charges were slapped after 2 months, for which we got the bail from the high court.
After 6 months, a trader Sunil Nigam, who is Vikky’s friend, lodged an FIR against unknown persons for seeking extortion money and shooting in the air. Later, my brother’s name was added during probe. Gangster Act was again invoked citing the new case. We again sought bail for him. This was getting too much for us and to get rid of this routine affair, we took a house on rent at Mind House, Nadesar. However, our hope of getting some peace was soon dashed.
On August 19, 2017, crime branch in charge Omnarayan Singh of crime branch and police outpost in chare Ramesh Chandra Mishra came in civil dress asking for Aman, who was home. They started assaulting him and took him away for interrogation. They had not disclosed their identity till then.
My elder brother Samir had also arrived from shop then. When he asked, they simply took away Rs 50,000 he was carrying apart from our mobile phones, without telling anything. When, we went to the Cantonment police station, they said goons must have abducted my brother. This made us even more worried. When we returned home, our neighbour Vijay Jaiswal informed that the crime branch sleuths had rounded him up for interrogation.
In desperation, we dialed 100, registered complaint on the CM portal, went to the newspaper offices and the SSP. Later, we got to know that he was booked under Gangster Act and my brother Aman was kept at the police lines. For interrogation, he was given electric shock on hands and limbs, which had gotten swollen.
We were still not getting any information and we continued to run helter-skelter. We feared of getting any bad news. My brother was made to call several numbers from the police lines.
My brothers were later booked over a fake encounter occurring on August 22, 2017 in Shivpur. The recovery of an SUV (Bolera) was also shown by police. They were also booked for firing on the police and recovery of stolen mobile phones. They were taken for treatment and sent to jail under arms act.
The police have completely ruined the life of my brother. He wanted to complete B. Tech and lead a respectful life, but police made him a criminal. Salman and Aman got bail in November and December respectively. We got our mobiles on the direction of the court on the basis of our mobile bills.
He was in police custody on August 22, when Durgesh Kumar Patwa was threatened for Rs 2 lakh extortion money. Interestingly, the police had come searching for Aman in the same case on July 5, although he was not home. We got to know from the police outpost that it was one year old case.
The person who was threatened for extortion did not know Aman and he had only complaint under the pressure from police, which has conspired to implicate my 2 brothers. They used to pick up my brothers from home, but show their arrests from elsewhere. Now, they are targetting my 3rd brother. What have we done to them to deserve this?
Today, we are so terrified of police that we can’t sleep at night and always apprehend that cops would come knocking anytime asking for another brother. Now, even our relatives and neighbours do not want to engage with us. People allege that to fight poverty, our brothers were indulging in unlawful activities. This pains us immensely.
My family is enduring this trauma. We sometimes go hungry for days together, while our parents regret this situation. I am the eldest, so I run around for fighting their cases. However, even I am threatened by cops for implication. I always think about the destiny of my family in such circumstances. I just pray to god seeking strength to stand up for the safety of my family.
I just want to know from the police, at whose instigation, they are targetting my family and ruining our careers. I just want that my family lives in peace.
Those who have implicated my brothers in false cases and exploited my family so much, must be taken to task for causing enormous mental and physical trauma to us. They must get severe punishment and we be allowed to live with dignity.
Interviewer Chhaya Kumari
Victim Rifat Jahan
Translated by Mr. Ashish Awasthi
