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 the 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. He was accused of setting ablaze the house of a 73-year-old Muslim woman and taking away her buffalo and calf.
In January 2022, the 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.
After nearly a year, the OpIndia team returned to Dinesh Yadav’s home to learn how they are coping with the anguish of their son being charged with a crime that he says he did not commit.
It is pertinent to mention here that Dinesh Yadav had pleaded not guilty to all the charges and had said that he was being falsely implicated. In a ground report by OpIndia after the sentencing of Dinesh, the family had claimed that Dinesh was being falsely implicated because they had refused to pay bribes to the Delhi police officials falsely implicating him.
Dinesh Yadav’s brother Harish informed us that his brother is still in jail. Dinesh has spent nearly three years in prison since his incarceration. Shikha Garg, a government advocate, is pursuing the case of many others alongside his in the High Court.
After the father, the mother departs, grieving her son’s false conviction
OpIndia spoke with Dinesh Yadav’s brother, Harish Yadav. Harish told us that his mother, Budha Devi, died in August 2022, on the day of Raksha Bandhan. When we asked the cause of death, Harish responded, “Mother used to worry a lot remembering Dinesh. She contracted a number of ailments as a result of the stress.
Dinesh’s father, Jagannath Yadav, died on June 28, 2021, shortly after his son (Dinesh) was arrested on June 3, 2021. Dinesh’s family attributed his father’s death to the trauma of his son’s arrest.
Notably, when we had lasted visited Dinesh Yadav’s house, we had spoken to his mother who had then called her son’s arrest a ‘fight for society’.
Budha Devi had said, “We did not take help from any relative. This fight was for society. The people of this society are not getting up. What can you do now? The behaviour of the policemen was very bad. They have done all this by taking bribes 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.”
Dinesh could not perform his parent’s last rites
Dinesh was granted parole for barely four hours after his mother died, according to Harish. Dinesh, according to Harish, did not find this parole adequate and decided to remain in jail.
Notably, the last time we spoke to Dinesh’s mother she had told us “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,” Budha Devi recalled adding that Dinesh intended to meet her only once he was released, not for a short period of time. Sadly, now Dinesh would never be able to see his mother again.
According to Harish, Dinesh Yadav is very sad in jail and is expecting the judiciary would uphold the rule of law and release him soon.
House seems deserted
Harish Yadav bemoaned how, following his parents’ deaths and Dinesh Yadav’s incarceration, their once-vibrant home now appeared deserted. He recalled that once upon a time, the walls of his house resonated with the laughter of his mother, father, brothers, wife, and children. Harish added that his parents are no longer alive and that having his brother in jail is the same as not having him at all.
Dinesh’s house currently houses his brother Harish, one of his sisters, Harish’s wife, and Harish’s child. Harish has been struggling to support his family on his meagre monthly salary of Rs 10 to 15 thousand rupees.
No one offered any assistance
Harish Yadav told us that after Islamists rioted in several areas of the national capital in 2020, his brother was labelled as an accused in the incident. He has been spending his sentence in jail for the last two years, but no one has come forward to assist his family during this time. Harish stated that he has had to pay every penny out of his earnings, which he relies on to support his family.
Throughout our conversation, Harish shared his despair over the state of affairs and said that he now has no demand from anyone.
It is worth noting that in last year’s article, we stated that Harish’s mother, Budha, had made serious allegations against the Delhi Police, accusing them of not only emotionally tormenting her family but also demanding a bribe. Budha Devi then told us that her son was innocent and was only imprisoned because he couldn’t pay the bribe to the police.
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 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.”
