http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ans-village/article20456730.ece?homepage=true
He was shot dead, allegedly by some cow vigilantes, in Alwar district of Rajasthan last week while transporting cows
Even as the family of dairy farmer Umar Khan is struggling to come to terms with
his killing in Alwar district of Rajasthan last week while transporting cows, a police notice demanding immediate consent for a post-mortem has caused fresh fear and hostility in Ghatmika village, situated on the Rajasthan-Haryana border.
Since the November 10 gunning down of Umar, 35, allegedly by some cow vigilantes, his two companions have not returned to the village, 95 km from Bharatpur, for fear of arrest. They have been booked by the police on the charge of cow smuggling,
The notice, served on Wednesday by the Govindgarh police station on the family, demanded its consent for Umar’s autopsy, failing which it said the police would get conduct a post-mortem and bury the body after performing the rituals.
Family demands arrest of culprits, compensation
A deadlock on the post-mortem has been persisting in Jaipur, with Umar’s relatives insisting on the arrest of all culprits and a compensation of Rs. 50 lakh.
“We are at a loss to decide what to do. My son was murdered for no fault [of his]. He had borrowed ₹15,000 from some acquaintances to buy a milch cow for his children, but was mercilessly killed,” 80-year-old Shahabuddin, Umar’s father, told
The Hindu. The family had three goats and it decided to purchase a cow for its dairy occupation.
The family has a small land holding of half bigha, which is insufficient to serve its needs. Umar’s cousin, Javed Khan, said he had settled for a cow instead of a buffalo, as the latter costs Rs.70,000, and the excess milk could be sold after feeding the large family. “We never thought that the transport of cows for a
bona fide purpose could be given the twist of cow smuggling,” he said.
Maqsood (18), the eldest among Umar Khan’s eight children, was unable to say how he would take care of his mother and siblings. “I spoke to him [my father] around noon that day when I was in Bengaluru in a truck to train as a driver. He was excited as he was investing money in buying a cow for the first time,” he said. He rushed back to Ghatmika on hearing of his father’s death and found his mother, Khurshidan, in
iddat (seclusion) and grandparents, relatives and neighbours in mourning.
Father expects job for grandson
Mr. Shahabuddin said a job for his grandson was the minimum he expected from the government. He rubbished the claim that his son and his associates were transporting cows for slaughter. “You will find cows, buffaloes and goats in each of the 400 households in this village. We never eat cow meat.”
The house comprises two rooms with a thatched roof and has a large courtyard. Amid the crowd of villagers and some Meo Muslim leaders from Alwar, Mr. Shahabuddin’s wife lay on a cot after being injected with sedatives. Ms. Khurshidan is pregnant with her ninth child.
Ghatmika sarpanch Shaukat Khan said the villagers suspected that the policemen at Govindgarh were complicit in the crime. “The police booked fellow travellers Tahir Khan and Javed in a cow smuggling case, but were silent on Umar Khan's whereabouts for two days. Only after making multiple rounds of Govindgarh and Ramgarh police stations, we were told that his body had been found on the railway track and sent to Alwar.”
Despite the lack of assurance from the government — no officer has visited Ghatmika since November 10 — Umar Khan’s family is hopeful of getting justice after the impasse over the post-mortem gets resolved. Neighbours bring food for the family, which is waiting for the body for burial in the village graveyard.