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Dadri lynching: Akhlaq's younger son disturbed by accused being called 'martyr'

The Dadri lynching accused passed away last week in judicial custody due to suspected sickness. On Friday, Ravi was cremated amidst a hero's farewel.

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A year ago Mohammad Akhlaq's family witnessed the brutal night of their lives when a mob barged into their house in Bisara village of Dadri and lynched him to death. In the attack Akhlaq's family was not spared either. His mother, daughter were thrashed but Akhlaq's younger son Danish Saifi was the one the mob left in a near-dead condition. Among the attackers was Ravi Sisodia, whose death in judicial custody due to suspected sickness brought Dadri lynching case into news again. On Friday, when Ravi was cremated amidst a hero's farewell, the television visuals of Bisara villagers wrapping his coffin in a tri-colour and elevating him to the position of a 'martyr', forced the family to relive the night of horror yet again. Their only only regret, "how can our own people declare him a martyr when they know what he did".

"My family is distraught. I hope better sense prevails and we live to see the day when justice is served," Akhlaq's elder Sartaj Saif, an Indian Airforce corporal. An officer of the airforce, Sartaj seems to have learnt to keep his emotions under control while talking bout his father. The same cannot be said about his younger brother Danish, who was not only a victim and a witness to the violence that was unleashed onto Akhlaq's family on the night of September 29.

" When we heard the news of Ravi passing away, we didn't know how to react. Our family had hopes that all those who killed my father will be served justice but if this what fate had kept in store for us then we will accept it. But one thing I can't accept is terming him (Ravi) as a Shaheed (martyr)," said Danish.

The 23-year-old was a civil services aspirant when the incident took place and till now garners the dream but is not able to study for more than 10-15 minutes due to the headaches. The pains, according to Danish's family, have never subsided ever since he was twice operated twice due to injuries he had received in his head. As a result of the beating, Danish was left unconscious and spent quite a time in hospitals subsequently. Danish was not aware of his father's death in fact was not told about it for months owing to the strain that the news would cause him. Once he was told about it the family protected him from any distressful aspects that kept on surfacing related to the probe into his fathers killing. Slowly however, Danish learnt to process what happened on the September night. However the Ravis death and the subsequent funeral procession has left his disturbed again.

"It is a feeling I can't explain. This man (Ravi) was carrying a stick and kept on hitting me and Papaji. He rained few blows on me and then on Papaji. He repeated this several times. I became unconscious only when another man hit me hard in the eye with the sewing machine kept in the house," he said. "He was not a martyr," added Danish.

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