The first sentence in the anti-Hindu riots of Delhi in February 2020 was pronounced on January 20, 2022. Dinesh Yadav, who lives in Bhagirathi Vihar of Gokulpuri police station area, has been found guilty by the Karkardooma Court. He has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and also fined Rs 12,000. Dinesh Yadav was convicted by Additional Sessions Judge Virendra Bhat on 6 December 2021. Dinesh Yadav was accused of setting ablaze the house of a 73-year-old Muslim woman and taking away her buffalo and calf.
Opindia team reached Dinesh Yadav’s house
OpIndia team reached Dinesh Yadav’s house to hear his side of the story from the family. The house is near the drain of the Gokulpuri area. Through the narrow lanes, we reached house number 22 in E block – the house of Dinesh Yadav. The landmark of the house is Dhruv Public School. It is a colony of lower-middle-class people. Most of the people here make their living through daily wages or small jobs. The walls of Dinesh Yadav’s house are not plastered. There was a blue coloured gate in front of the house.
Pictures of deities on the walls inside the house
Dinesh Yadav’s house is about 35 feet long and 15 feet wide. It has a total of 3 small rooms. There is a room on the terrace for his elder brother Harish Yadav. The walls inside Dinesh Yadav’s house have paintings of Hanuman, Krishna. The family members told that the paintings were made by Dinesh himself. The paint on the wall was seen fraying in many places.
There is no separate bathroom for bathing etc. Some plastic buckets were found under the stairs, which were kept filled with water for use.
‘My son is innocent’ says Dinesh Yadav’s mother
Talking to OpIndia, Dinesh’s mother said “My name is Budha. I am from Azamgarh district of UP. I have 2 sons. Both are labourers. There was no case against my sons before this. I have been living in this house in Delhi for 33 years. My kids haven’t gone anywhere. His name is falsely put in the case. The accuser is a widowed Muslim woman and she herself is the witness. Then the police were called and my son was arrested. Police took him away only after abusing and beating him. Posters of auction were pasted on our house.”
Her husband died soon after the son was arrested
Dinesh’s mother further said, “After the arrest of my son, my husband died within a few days. His body had stopped working. Household expenses are left only for the Gods to take care of. My elder son is looking after the court case. As there is no one in the house, I have called my married daughter from her in-laws’ house here. We have no support from anyone. From arrest to punishment, no one came to our door. 4 people are trapped with my son. We don’t know what happened to the rest. Allegations of taking away the buffalo etc are just for the sake of entrapping them.”
The woman who made the allegation already had a fight with the people of her community
Dinesh’s mother said, “The Muslim woman who made the allegation was already having a fight with the Muslim people. Those people had already taken the buffalo away. All of them have accused the Hindus, just to save themselves. News spread in our area that Muslim people are coming here to kill. Then all the people of this colony had gathered. Everyone went there to stop those Muslims so that they should not come here. Nobody even came. My son also went to see the same. My son was told that this is a fight for the community. The people of the colony called it a fight for the community. Some of them ran away and some others stood back. The names of those who stood back were taken into the case. 22 people from my colony were named in this case.”
Policemen were asking for bribe
Budha Devi further added, “We did not take help from any relative. This fight was for the society. The people of this society are not getting up. What can you do now? The behavior of the policemen was very bad. They have done all this by taking bribe from others. 4-5 lakh rupees were being demanded from our family. From where do we poor people give so much money? We could not give money.”
‘As my husband has passed away, I don’t know what to do next’
According to Dinesh’s mother, “Ever since my son has been arrested, I haven’t seen him. When his brother visits him in jail, Dinesh tells him, don’t bring mother here in jail to meet me. Her health is already unwell. 2 to 4 years before death, my husband had stopped working. Relying on our sons, he sat at home. Like our sons, he also used to work as a laborer and he raised our family.”
Dinesh Yadav’s sister Urmila spoke to OpIndia
DinDinesh Yadav’s brother Urmila told us “This was the fight of society. In this fight, he went only to see. Now we are left with only my mother, brother, and me being the daughter in the house. I also have a child. Dinesh had studied till class 8. He used to work as a labourer.”
‘My father was tortured and asked for bribe’
Dinesh’s sister further told “My brother was caught on 3rd June. My father died on 28 June. My father was made to sit in the police station for 4 hours. He was tortured. They kept asking him for money. There were threats to auction my house. We got bullied. The police used to enter and search in my house. There were no women police during the raid. After the riots, my brother’s name was inserted in the case. My brother’s name was not there when the riots happened. The video was made on the third day of the fight. The video was morphed. Dinesh used to do the painting of my house. My mother is suffering from diabetes and blood pressure.”
Dinesh Yadav’s brother Harish Yadav talks to OpIndia
Harish Yadav said “Dinesh is my younger brother. I work and run the house. I get salary of Rs. 12 thousand. I am married whereas Dinesh was not married yet. The condition of the house is not good. Because of this I am not able to get the walls plastered. Brother is in jail for 2 years.”
Police torture responsible for father’s death
Harish’s father’s name was Jagannath Yadav. Harish said, “My father was continuously tortured in the police station. He was made to sit in the police station for hours and the police demanded money. He was called to the police station 4-5 days a week. We poor people could not raise that much money. The weight of my brother’s charge sheet was increased from 14 to 28 kg. The weight of government papers was so much that carrying them caused me shoulder pain. The woman on whose statement my brother was held guilty, she herself does not consider my brother guilty. However, she did not give it in writing. There was no harm to her. There are 4-5 Muslim families near the drain. It was them who created all this ruckus.”
‘Tahir Hussain is most guilty but he is not punished’
Harish said, “The media used to say that there was a slingshot at Tahir Hussain’s house. But he had money. He is not punished. Charges are framed on my innocent brother whereas he was nowhere involved in the riots. When riots were going on, where were the police? All these are concocted stories of policemen. Did these boys commit so many crimes in 2 days that 20-25 cases were imposed on them? Before this incident, these boys had never been to the police station. Police made them so big of a criminal.”
‘My brother is in Mandawali jail, he says look after the family instead of worrying for me.’
Harish added, “My brother is in jail number 11 of Mandawali. A gang of 4 nearby boys was formed with him. The condition of everyone’s family is not good. All of them are from hard working families, just like us. When my father passed away, I had hired a lawyer. At the same time, my brother used to say in the court that you take care of the family instead of worrying about me. My brother has got a public prosecutor from the court. At present my case is being handled by Shikha Garg. She is doing it for free.”
‘A week ago, the judge had called the brother innocent in the court.’
Harish said, “A week ago, the same judge had said in the court that these boys cannot be punished at the behest of the police. A week ago I read in the newspaper that these boys are innocent. I do not know what happened within a week that my brother was punished. Now all the policemen have become the only ones to do it. Who is going to listen to us?”
‘Will go even in High Court and Supreme Court.’
Harish said, “As far as there is breath, there is hope. He is our brother. We can’t leave him on his fate. Now we will go to the High Court. From there, if necessary, we will also go to the Supreme Court. Our father raised us by working as a laborer. He was killed by the riots and the exploits of the police. Now we were also working as laborers. My brother is made to live a dead life. No leader has visited our house in these 2 years.”
Muslims are united, Hindus are not
Harish added, “If anything happens to a Muslim, everyone gets united for him. But Hindus lack unity. That is why Muslims are dominating us. Because of this our younger brother is in jail today. Not only do I consider my brother innocent, but he is really innocent. My brother is not involved in any riots. Policemen kept coming to our house during the lock down. Our brother was playing in the street. They caught him and took him away. Don’t know what did they show to him and said that this man is none other than you.”
The condition of the accusers is many folds better than us
Harish added “The name of the woman who has accused my brother is Manori. The condition of her house is many times better than ours. The talk of buffalo theft etc. is false. We do not know who did what after that incident. The arrests in the February case took place in June. There were names of many people in it, but many of the names disappeared from the case later. So many cases were imposed on these boys. 22 cases were registered against my brother. Can 23-24 year old boys do 22 cases in 2 days? They were accused of the riots from Shiv Vihar to Mustafabad. Father was going to fight the legal battle of brother after the lock down. Then the policemen asked to wait for 3 months for the chargesheet. My father was mentally disturbed and died on 28 June.”
Neighbors refused to say anything on camera
OpIndia tried to gather information from the neighbors in this whole matter. People in the locality know Dinesh as Michael. The distance between Dinesh Yadav’s house from the main road is about 250 meters. Meanwhile, an attempt was made to get information from some shopkeepers and other residents in this matter. All of them refused to speak anything about this matter in front of the camera.
This is the actual ground report from the house and family of Dinesh Yadav who was convicted and sentenced the first punishment in the anti-Hindu riots that took place in February 2020 in Delhi.
