Sunar´s father, 70-year-old Birebhadra, a resident of Jubitha-8, Kalikot, had never in his worst dream thought that his only son would leave him so suddenly. [break]
“He has gone leaving behind a 15-year-old daughter-in-law and three small children. How will I take care of them in this old age?” said Birebhadra tearfully. What is even more painful for the old man is the knowledge that the culprits would not be punished. “Since they are from higher caste, it is unlikely that justice would be done,” he said.
After being mercilessly beaten by the Shahis, Sunar breathed his last on the way to district hospital at the headquarters.
Birebhadra has seen three deaths in his family in the last 5 years. “My wife left me five years ago. Three years later, my son´s wife Jeeru died due to dysentery,” he said. All the three children, eldest daughter Bimala, 10, son Mukesh, 5, and Amisha, 2, are from Jeeru.
A year after Jeeru´s death, Sunar married another woman, but now the old man is unsure about the future of the kids. “Who is going to take care of them? He was the sole bread winner in the family,” said the bereaved father.
Birebhadra had come to the headquarters for the treatment of his injured son. But he has not been able to return home even after conducting the final rites of the son. “I may not be able to face the innocent faces of his children. They must have gotten nothing to eat. How will I feed them?” said Birebhadra helplessly.
He has been staying at a relative´s house in the headquarters and owns nothing except a small hut back in his village. Sunar used to support his family by working as a blacksmith.
Birebhadra stresses that some people involved in the murder were yet to be arrested. According to him, the hotel owner Jashbahadur Shahi and his wife Balkumari must be punished as well. “The police have detained only Deepak and Minbahadur.
The hotel owners are roaming freely in the headquarters,” he said. Meanwhile, Birebhadra appealed that the government either disown Dalits as the citizens of the country or do justice in the case.
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