Faridabad: 16 years on, justice eludes elderly couple

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, July 12

Seventy-year-old Ram Babu Sharma and his wife Rajjo Devi (66) have perhaps left no office or official unvisited in their quest for justice regarding their property since 2008.

Residents of Dabua Colony, the couple originally hails from UP and have been living like homeless orphans with no help in sight.

“We came here with dreams of leading a good and peaceful life soon after our marriage in the 1980s, but those dreams turned sour when we got trapped in the net of the mafia preying on poor migrants,” says Rajjo Devi, a former employee of a pottery-making company. She recounts how some individuals trapped them in an investment (savings) scheme, not only occupying their two-room house built on 100 sq yards, but also allegedly having their son killed in 2015.

Ram Babu, a retired worker of a private company, explains that their lives were upended in 2008 when they were ousted from their house. The mafia managed to transfer the house into their names through deceit, accusing the couple of being defaulters in a savings scheme. Although the registration papers were in his name, their belongings were thrown out onto the street, and no one, including the police, came to their aid.

He says the culprits, working on behalf of a local strongman, caused them to lose the legal battle and pay dearly, as they lost their son in 2015, who was found dead on a railway track. Alleging that their son was murdered and his body dumped on the track, he laments that no investigation was launched despite their demands.

“If they cannot provide justice, the government should allow us to die as it is difficult to survive in the present conditions,” says the couple, who depends on an old-age pension of Rs 6,000.

“Only hollow assurances have come, though we have approached officials from the level of a constable to the SHO, DC, Police Commissioner, MLA and MP,” says Ram Babu. He mentions that several applications have been submitted, even to the current and former Chief Ministers over the past 10 years but no relief has come.

Claiming they live under constant fear, he states that their applications are being shuffled from one office to another with no progress. While the couple met the current CM Naib Singh in his office last month, the application submitted to the DC last week was marked to the police department and the Badkhal SDM.

When contacted, Badkhal SDM Amit Maan said the matter was brought to his notice and was under investigation.