Her poverty,not son’s fate,on the mind of Dec 16 juvenile’s mother

December 16 gangrape case: Verdict involving juvenile deferred

The police then turned to the mother and told her that her eldest son had been arrested in the murder and gangrape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in Delhi.

Almost nine months later,news reached the mother Monday evening that the Juvenile Justice Board would decide the fate of her son on August 31.

“I cannot go. I don’t have money and I don’t know anyone in Delhi,” the mother said when asked if she was planning to be in Delhi on the day of the verdict. She clutched her sides as she spoke. It was the end of a long day. She had had half a roti with some tea on Sunday morning,and nothing since then.

“There is not a morsel at home. I did not find any work today and don’t know where the next meal is going to come from,” she said.

A farm labourer,the wife of a mentally ill man and the mother of six,she finds it hard to get work these days. “I mostly get work in the harvest season. There is not much scope for farm labour for the next few months and I have so many mouths to feed,” she said.

Their monthly BPL ration — 15 kg of wheat and 20 kg of rice —is exhausted within a fortnight,leaving them to struggle for a meal for the rest of the month,she says.

She finds it unfortunate that her eldest son who used to send money every month,is behind bars. However,the media attention following his arrest gave her some much needed cash. “Media people visited me…They gave me Rs 1,000 and with that I bought new clothes for two of my younger sons,” she said.

Despite the occasional charity from the media,their questions irritated her,she said. “I have too much sadness in my life to keep dwelling on my eldest son all the time. His father,so many mouths,no food,no work,no money,no relatives,” she says dismissing the thought that her son’s arrest caused her pain.

Court takes custody of Dec 16 rape case diary

“She did not go to meet her son even once. When I broke the news of her son’s arrest,she was very indifferent,not affected at all,” the Station House Officer of the area said. One of her daughters however says that her mother has not been able to sleep at night. “Her health has taken a turn for the worse since his arrest. sometimes her mind does not work,” she said.

Whenever she prays,she thinks of her son spending time behind bars.

“He left home when he was in class three. They needed someone to wash dishes in hotels and Rs 300 per month was a good amount,especially after his father went mad,” she said. In the 10 or 11 years since he left home,he came back only once. “He was a good kid. He must have fallen into bad company if he did what the police say he did,” she said.

Trial in Dec 16 gangrape case drawing to a close

For the past one year,she said,she had heard of him only once. “When he is freed,I want him to come home and work in the village,” she said,regretting that she had let him go to the city. Also,she does not intend to send any of her other children to the city.

“But who will associate with the boy once he comes back to the village? The nature of his crime is such that people will shun him,wherever he goes,” the village pradhan said.

Officers at the local police station do not believe the boy was a minor at the time of the crime. “How would a seven-year-old leave home for working in the city?” they ask.

But the mother insists that her son was under-age when he was arrested. Her neighbors also maintain that many children,as young as seven,are sent to work in hotels in Delhi and its suburbs. “There are so many poor people but not every one is a criminal…being poor or falling into bad company cannot be cited as the reason for committing a crime,” the pradhan said.

For now,the mother says she has too many worries to ponder over what the court will decide. When asked if she believes her son is innocent,she responds: “God Knows.”