UP family living on streets seeks justice

The fight for justice has brought a family of six on the road. Uttar Pradesh (UP) native Vimla Devi (name changed), 35, her husband, Dilip Kumar Sahu and their children, all aged under 7 years, have been living on a pavement near Jantar Mantar for the last two years, while trying to draw the attention of the authorities towards their plight.

The family's ordeal began in February 2015. They had just shifted from Balliya in UP to Bengal. Vimla was at home while her husband had gone to work.

"Two men, whom I can identify even today, barged into my home around 10 pm. They thrashed and molested me. My children were brutally thrashed as well," the woman said.

She further said she somehow managed to escape in a semi-naked state and raised an alarm. When no one came to her aide, she rushed to her husband's workplace and narrated the ordeal. She also identified the accused as Mukesh and his aide Santosh Giri.

The couple claimed that the local police refused to register their complaint because the accused were politically connected. Within a week of the horrendous incident, Vimla's husband was thrown out of his job without any notice.

She said that after a number of her letters to the state governments went unanswered, she recently wrote a letter to the Home Minister.