The brutal incident of beheading of a man named Ramchand Yadav, father of a BJP leader Tej Narayan in Bhada village of Darbhanga district in Bihar, had shocked the nation. The reason for this brutal murder, according to the family, was the naming of a village square or a chowk after Narendra Modi.
The police authorities and the deputy CM of the state Sushil Modi, however, had denied that the murder was result of naming of the chowk:
It was due to an old land dispute & has no connection with naming of chowk, they named their private land as Narendra Modi Chowk. Batons were used to injure the deceased’s son. There is no tension in the village: Satya Veer Singh, SSP on killing of man in Darbhanga #Bihar pic.twitter.com/7g9Chgw21J
— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018
Several portals and Twitter users had tried to use the tweet of Sushil Modi and the statements of the police establishment in order to deny the claim of the victim’s family. Suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad too had tried to deny any political or religious angle in the murder:
However, the family members of the slain man have reiterated that the murder took place due to the reason cited earlier. Family members have also claimed that they are under pressure from the administration.
Sushila, the daughter-in-law of Ramchand Yadav said that there was no land dispute, which was claimed as the reason for murder by the police. Tej Narayan, son of the victim told news agency ANI that there was no other reason for the brutal beheading of his father other than naming of the village square.
He further said that he was contemplating leaving the place due to pressure and threats. He said that there is pressure on him and his injured brother from police. Tej Narayan claimed that the police is misleading people.
The murder was due to me naming the chowk after Modi ji. There is absolutely no other reason. Police is misleading and even pressurizing my injured brother. I am now contemplating leaving this place: Tej Narayan Yadav,son of victim #Darbhanga #Bihar pic.twitter.com/S98bcWn0Lp
— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2018
The family members have received some support though. Bihar BJP chief Nityanand Rai and Union Minister Giriraj Singh met them to assure help. Rai had said that he would complain to the government regarding attempts to delink the crime from the ‘Narendra Modi chowk’.
The need of the hour is to reach out to the family, accept their complaints, investigate in a impartial manner and punish the guilty.