Family of ‘serial rapist’ told to vacate home

Their father — now the sole breadwinner — hasn’t worked for some days after an injury left him walking with the aid of a walking-stick. The rent for the room, located in a Northeast Delhi colony, is Rs 1,500. With Ravinder gone, and them facing eviction, the family doesn’t know what to do.

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No one remembers seeing a police officer, or any government official ever visiting the area. Drains in the area are clogged and trash has been heaped in mounds. But Ravinder’s family was prepared for visitors. The solitary khaat in their house has been kept in the shade.

Convinced of their son’s innocence, they tell their version of events to anyone who will listen to them.

“It all began last year after my sons got into an altercation with one of our neighbours. The neighbour had connections with some police officers, so he implicated Ravinder in a sodomy and attempt to murder case. After he was arrested last year, my landlord had asked me to vacate the room. Once again, after my son’s arrest last week in another case, my present landlord has asked me to leave the accommodation,” the father said. He added that his other son had also been arrested in the same altercation case last week.

Rakesh Prakash, a neighbour, added, “We never knew him to be involved in any wrongdoing. He has been implicated by police in a false case.”

Ravinder’s father earned Rs 8,000 per month, but since the arrest of his son, people have started avoiding him. “No one had ever raised a finger against us. Whether it was in the village or here. But the arrest of my son has changed my life. All we can do now is die,” the father said.

Ravinder’s mother went inside their home and took out her son’s photographs from the almirah, along with whatever paperwork she could find on her son’s case. “I don’t know what will help. I can’t read. But the lawyer gave us this. Will it help him?” she said.