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Journalism of Courage
Phulwati Devi, mother of slain NHAI engineer Satyendra Dubey, has lived the longest year in her life but time seems to have healed nothing. ‘‘Life will never be the same for us again,’’ says Bageshwari, the father.
Dubey was murdered on November 27, 2003, almost a year after he complained of corruption in the national highway development project that he was working for. His death left a void in the family of six, including three sisters and a brother, that will never be filled. His parents had seen their eldest son’s struggle to get through IIT, join a government job, fight to keep his integrity. All that came to an end as his body reached them this day last year. He was all of 32.
‘‘There is hardly a day on which my mother has not broken down,’’ says Dhananjay, Satyendra’s younger brother, who is an engineering student at BHU. Two months ago, the family shifted from their house in Shahpur village to another a few kilometres away so that they could be left alone.
‘‘At the earlier place, neighbours would assemble at our home and the talk would invariably turn to bhaiyya. My mother cannot take it…I virtually scold her not to cry.’’
The new house has only made things worse. Dubey’s mother is feeling lonely in the new village full of strangers. ‘‘We are not sure of what to do now,’’ says Bageshwari.
The CBI probe has further left the family riled. ‘‘He was killed because of his honesty and I believe the CBI did not bother to investigate this angle properly,’’ he says. ‘‘Have they investigated the issues of corruption raised by my son and if any of them is behind his murder? I still cannot believe that my son would give up his life to save some money.’’
The family has got compensation from the NHAI, and fund collected by IITians and other well-wishers. Visitors from the media and NHAI have, however, stopped. The SK Dubey Foundation to Fight Corruption has been established and Bihar Law Minister Shakeel Ahmad has built a science block in Dubey’s name at a college right on the road he was building near Gaya.
‘‘Killing time from morning to evening has become a task,’’ says the father who will retire this year. ‘‘Tomorrow, my last season at the sugar mill will start.’’ Dubey’s two sisters, who are trained to be teachers, haven’t found jobs yet. On Dubey’s first death anniversary, the struggle has just begun for the family.
