Death of a sister…

By PRABEER SIKDAR

DEHRADUN, 27 May 2009: Surendra Nautiyal, younger brother of Anshu Nautiyal – the girl who was strangulated on Saturday morning – is at a loss for words. “She was a simple girl and had no friends at all – neither in our neighbourhood nor in her college (DAV College, where she was a student of B Com Ist year),” said Surendra, who himself is a first year student of a Polytechnic Institute at Suddhowala.

Ironically, with BCom Ist year results of Garhwal University coinciding with her tragic killing, Anshu’s family is least bothered about how she had fared in her first year exam. “She secured above 60% in her Plus Two from Nari Shilp. Plus, apart from working at the PCO (Rs 1000 per month for personal expenses), she never missed her BCom tutorials at Mitr Lok Colony,” added Surendra, pointing out that ‘by nature, my sister was an introvert.’

“I had filled the DAV admission form on her behalf and also took her to the exam centre.” Daughter of a retired Group IV employee of Survey of India, Anshu reportedly kept her mother informed before leaving for any place. “Even to visit our neighbourhood shops, she always informed our mother.”

But, then, what happened in this case? “The PCO owner, by nature, used to enquire from me, whenever she was late (the PCO at Paltan Bazar reportedly opened at 10 a.m.) or sick. But this time, he did not inform us and also kept his phone switched off,” he added, pointing out that his sister did not have a mobile phone.

Though police reports say that the killer strangulated Anshu at around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Anshu’s family feel that they could have saved her if the PCO owner had informed them when she did not reach her work place.Anshu has two other sisters including three brothers. “She was the youngest of the siblings,” informed Harish Nautiyal, elder brother of Anshu, who along with their neighbours were on a dharna at Gandhi Park this evening.“Forget about a mobile phone, she even used to walk the three kms distance on foot from Sridev Suman Nagar Colony to the Paltan Bazar PCO.”

Harish, who is a private worker, added that his sister being gullible in nature, ‘anybody could easily talk to her’.

There was a delay in filing an FIR due to confusion over territorial jurisdiction between Bindal Chowki and Khurbura Chowki in the night of Saturday, 23 May.

“As per the law laid down by the Supreme Court, police cannot refuse to register an FIR on the ground that they do not have jurisdiction. If, however, after investigation is over, if the police come to the conclusion that they have no jurisdiction, they should forward the case to the magistrate empowered to take cognisance of the offence,” said Sarit Sharma, a lawyer practicing at the Dehradun District Court.

“The Apex Court gave this ruling in the Satvinder Kaur vs State of Delhi in 1999,” he said, adding that family members in cases of inaction by the police in disappearance/ kidnap cases could also approach the HC for issuance of Mandamus/ Habeas Corpus as well as also complain to the Human Rights Commission.However, it is another matter that Uttarakhand does not have its own State Human Rights Commission.

“The poor get no justice,” said Vimal, one of Anshu’s neigbours.

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