Pall of gloom descends on two border villages

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Abdullian/Sai Khurd, August 28

Pawan Kumar Choudhary and his septuagenarian father Ajeet Singh were about to milk their cattle in their dairy farm and sisters-in-law Banso Devi and Kanta Devi were doing house chores when mortars fired by the Pakistan Rangers ruined the two families forever.

It was a black Friday for the two families whose three members were killed in a span of 15 minutes as Pakistan fired 82-mm mortars on their houses.

Pawan was killed instantly while his father lost his right arm. They were the residents of Abdullian village. The two sisters-in-law were killed at Sai Khurd village.

“I don’t know what happened. My brother died and my father lost his arm. They were the breadwinners for the family,” said Sham Lal, Pawan’s younger brother. He said of the four brothers, two were physically handicapped.

“We are ruined. There is no one to look after us. Our cattle are dying. For god’s sake send some doctor to save them,” he said.

The dairy farm was around 50 yards from Pawan’s house.

“After huddling inside a bunker on Thursday night to escape shelling, the father-son duo had gone to tend to cattle at the dairy farm when a shell exploded near it around 6.15 am. Everything is ruined,” he said.

Pawan’s house reflected gloom. The silence was intermittently broken by cries and screams of family members.

In Sai Khurd village, Banso Devi and Kanta Devi were hit by a mortar around 6.30 am. Kanta Devi was readying the school uniform of her two children while Banso Devi was looking after the cattle when a mortar exploded on their verandah, causing them grievous injuries.

Banso died instantly while Kanta succumbed to her injuries at Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu.