Rohtak, October 16
The Punjab and Haryana High Court may have put an end to Sonia’s and Rampal’s travails, but not entirely. The threat to their lives is more real now than ever before. And despite this, in the name of police protection, four policemen have been stationed at their house in Asanda village, while the couple continues to be without a security cover in clear violation of the court orders.
Rampal is by Sonia’s side in the gynaecology ward of the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences here and so is his mother Moorti. There is not a single policeman stationed here to guard them.
Asked by The Tribune about the security cover, Rampal said, “A policeman met me this morning. He told me that should I sense trouble, I should contact him at the PGIMS police post. For my convenience, he left the police post’s phone number.” Significantly, the nearest PCO from the ward is about 400 metres away.
Luckily, the security guards of PGIMS posted at Sonia’s ward are not allowing anyone in, but they are unarmed. There have been reports of at least three attempts to intrude into Sonia’s ward since Friday night. The watchful PGIMS guards, however, thwarted the attempts.
The entire family is worried about their security. Rampal’s mother Moorti left the village this morning for Rohtak. None of the policemen posted at her house offered to accompany her. “I just walked out of the door and they could not care less. But I am not the one to be cowed down. I caught a maxi-cab and came here. Sonia needs fresh milk, she said.
Asanda appears calm and quiet, but only from outside. Beneath the surface, the panchayat supporters are simmering with rage. When The Tribune met a youth there and asked for directions to Rampal’s house, just to gauge the reaction, he spat and went his way. An elderly villager who saw this happen offered a warning. “Do not make such queries. They are after Sonia’s and Rampal’s blood. At the first opportunity, they will finish both off”, he said and shut the door.
But not everybody appeared that angry. Many others said the court orders brought a welcome relief after a week of tension and anarchy. But none of them would want the couple to return, not for now at least. “The court may have restrained the panchayat from imposing the dictat. But what will it do if the villagers boycott the family socially. That will not be any breach of the law. And this is a distinct possibility”, said a resident of the village.
Another indication of the threats to Sonia’s and Rampal’s lives can be seen in the answer to a simple query. The question was: Do you think there is a threat to their lives in the village? The answer: There are all kinds of people in every village; who knows?
Back in Rohtak, Rampal and his brother-in-law Kuldeep agreed with this assessment. “I am worried. How long will the four policemen stay at my house? I have to move out and trek the lonely furrow to my fields at odd hours. Who will protect me”, Rampal asked, looking a shade forlorn and addressing the sentence more to himself than anybody else present.
Then he muttered: “The least they (villagers) will do is boycott us. In that case too, we cannot live in Asanda. Somehow, we have to convince the panchayat to accept us back”. The ex-sarpanch of Sonia’s parental village Kiloi, Jasbir Hooda, nodded in agreement. “The court has given us a big relief. Now the panchayat has to be convinced to be magnanimous enough”, he said.
That is exactly what needs to be done. Somebody has to take up from where the court has left at the moment.
