Murder over relief 8212; PM assures action

SULTANPUR, AUG 9: It was the compensation that changed it all. Before Shiv Kumari got Rs 30 lakh after her husband Ram Nihore Yadav was ki...

SULTANPUR, AUG 9: It was the compensation that changed it all. Before Shiv Kumari got Rs 30 lakh after her husband Ram Nihore Yadav was killed in the Kargil war, her family and that of her husband were quite close.

They celebrated festivals together, as well as mourned together after Yadav8217;s death. Together, they arranged for Ram Nihore8217;s brother Ram Achal Yadav to get his job after his death.

But then the relief amounting to Rs 30 lakh for Ram Nihore8217;s death went to Shiv Kumari, and the two families were fighting and even disowning each other. Now, Shiv Kumari8217;s father-in-law Ram Adhar Yadav and an associate, Anand Dube, are in prison on the charge of brutally murdering her on Monday over the relief money.

The matter even made it to Parliament today, with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee assuring the Rajya Sabha that those responsible for killing Shiv Kumari would be punished. Raising the issue in a special mention, Chandresh Kumari of the Congress requested the chair to ask the Government to amend the present laws so that the property of young widows could be prevented from being passed on to their in-laws. This would prevent a lot of crime against women, she noted.

Vajpayee said legislation alone could not prevent such type of heinous crime. 8220;We have to educate society so that similar types of incidents do not occur,8221; he said.

Though the feud between Shiv Kumari and her in-laws had been going from bad to worse, no one could have predicted such an end. Ram Nihore8217;s parents had first appealed that the relief be put into a joint bank account, then even gone to court and claimed that it was not Shiv Kumari but Durga Devi who was their daughter-in-law.

Shiv Kumari8217;s younger brother Dinesh Kumar claims to have been an eye-witness to her murder and it was on his evidence that the police have arrested Adhar and Dube. Two other unidentified persons named in the FIR have been identified as Mateen and Babbu, Additional SP P.K. Mishra said.

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Dinesh says that Adhar and Dube confronted him and his sister when they were returning after collection pension granted to Kargil widows from a bank at Ramganj. He claims first they tried to kidnap Shiv Kumari, but when she resisted, Mateen and Babbu allegedly shot at her from point-blank range. Dinesh says the gun misfired, and the two then began hitting Shiv Kumari on the head with the pistol8217;s butt till she fell unconscious. Assuming she was dead, the attackers reportedly fled. Shiv Kumari died by the time she reached hospital.

Shiv Kumari8217;s grieving mother wants the Government to build a memorial at the place where she has been buried and requests that the entire compensation money now be spent on social welfare.

Incidentally, while Adhar contests that his son married Shiv Kumari, his other son, Ram Achal Yadav, confirms that the wedding took place in May 1998 and that he attended it. However, he contests the charge that his father was involved in Shiv Kumari8217;s murder. 8220;My father and mother cannot even think of it,8221; he said.