"Injustice and Tragedy: A Mother's Heart-Wrenching Tale of Her Son's Untimely Death and the Quest for Justice"

 In heart-wrenching anguish, Janti Devi, aged 46, narrates her tragic tale from the village of Markundi, Post Office Baandha-Thana, Chopan, District Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh.

My once blissful family now lies shattered. We were a contented household, with five sons and three daughters-in-law. My sons worked as truck drivers, tirelessly supporting our family with their earnings. Among them was my youngest son, Krishna Murari, fondly known as Pintu, who too drove a truck and provided for us. He employed his nephew Ankur, the son of my brother-in-law Lalita Devi, as his helper. They worked together, earning their livelihood.

My youngest daughter-in-law, Reena, had a daughter named Riya, born in January 2021. However, in January of the same year, calamity struck our home. My son was taken away by a man named Kaal, who had a reputation for his alcohol addiction. They went to the house of Birbal Chero, where Birbal's daughter Neha took away my son's mobile phone. When he requested it back, an altercation ensued, leading to Birbal calling the police.

Out of fear, my son fled the scene. That night, he took refuge at my brother-in-law's house and informed us about the incident. Leelavati Devi, my son's mother-in-law, immediately rushed to the police station and handed my son over to them. During this time, we were kept in the dark about the happenings.

After a while, the police summoned us to the station, where we repeatedly begged and pleaded for my son's innocence. However, Sandeep Jaiswal, the station in-charge, who was corrupt, was adamant. They took my daughter-in-law outside the station and pressured her to give a false statement against my son, claiming he had harassed her. Under duress, she complied, leading to a false case against my son.

We continued to implore and beseech the police and Birbal Chero and his wife, but they remained unyielding. Finally, they demanded 2.5 lakh rupees. In our impoverished state, we were incapable of arranging such a large sum. Desperate, we offered to sell some land, but the station in-charge insisted we sign over the land deeds to them in lieu of the money.

My husband, Mahendra Prasad, and I, broken and defeated, faced an unimaginable choice. We had to sign away our land or lose our son. My husband, unable to bear the agony, was on the verge of collapse. At this moment of extreme distress, we relented and signed the papers.

With our hearts heavy and our spirits crushed, we went home. Our small daughter-in-law, Reena, had become mentally unhinged, unable to bear the weight of the situation. How could we hide this sorrow? We were unable to console ourselves. We felt as if someone would kill us.

We informed the police that we couldn't come up with the 2.5 lakh rupees and begged for mercy. But the station in-charge, in a menacing tone, ordered us to sign some papers. My husband, overwhelmed with grief, couldn't bring himself to sign, and the police took our son's body away.

My daughter-in-law sobbed uncontrollably. We couldn't silence her cries. In the midst of our grief, we didn't know what to do. The entire village mourned my son's tragic death. We were lost, unable to comprehend the gravity of our situation.

The jailer informed us that my son had been brutally murdered while in custody. We demand justice for my son's death, and we hope that the law will take its course and deliver justice to us. Sharing our ordeal has become our lifeline, and we believe that through the legal system, we will receive the justice we seek. It feels as if God has entered our home. We will find justice!