“First my husband and now my son. What is left for me to see?” Jharkhand lynching victim Alimuddin Ansari’s wife Mariam Khatoon mourns the death of her eldest son, Shehzad. He died at his home in Jharkhand district’s Manua village on 23 January after experiencing severe pain in his head for several days.
His father, Alimuddin Ansari, was lynched to death in June 2017 by a mob on suspicion of carrying beef. Almost a year later, in March 2018, the court convicted 11 of the 12 accused of lynching him under Section 20B (conspiracy), indicating that the attack was pre-planned. The court also sentenced them to life imprisonment. The Jharkhand High Court, however, suspended the life sentence awarded to eight of the 10 accused.
The Quint spoke to Ansari’s eldest daughter, Samma, who is busy organising the prayer ceremonies at their home. She said Shehzad had had an accident three years ago in which he suffered a brain injury.
“He had hurt his head on the left and right side and had a blood clot. The doctors then had suggested laser surgery but the budget they quoted was too much for us. They said we could try medicines and we did that for as long as we could.”Samma Ansari, Shehzad’s Sister
Samma says the medicines cost Rs 13,000 to Rs 14,000 a week, so after a year of using them, they become very irregular and eventually stopped.
“The private hospital we took him to did everything they could. They referred him to government hospital Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS). We didn’t take him there. He was screaming in pain and my mother got scared. He had a severe headache and was biting people because he couldn’t take the pain. He would fall off the bed in pain too. Seeing that nothing could be done, we decided to bring him home and soon after that, he died.”Samma Ansari
Mustafa Ansari, Shehzad’s cousin told The Quint, “We did not think he would get proper care in the government hospital. We tried taking him anyway, we made a mistake.”
Shehjad’s mother Mariam Khatoon is very unwell herself. “It is becoming exceedingly hard to take care of her. She has cried for hours without break. We are worried about her,” Samma said.
The Quint also spoke to the Private Lake Hospital where Shehzad was brought.
“We examined the patient, he came in a critical condition. The neurosurgeon Dr Wakar Ahmed was paged and arrived well in time. We insisted he be moved to the ICU but the family wanted him to be treated in the ward itself. That is when we referred him to a bigger hospital so he has the best shot. We did everything we could,” Maroof Alam HR Head of the hospital said.
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