Ranchi: The father of a pregnant woman in Jharkhand Saturday sought punishment not less than hanging for those responsible for the death of his daughter, who was allegedly crushed under the wheels of a tractor. Mithilesh Mehta, a differently abled farmer, alleged that his 27-year-old daughter was killed after coming under the wheels of the tractor when a recovery agent of a private lender was forcibly taking away the vehicle, refusing to listen to his plea of repaying the loan.
I do not want anything, neither compensation nor any benefit from the government. I only seek justice for my daughter and it should not be less than hanging the culprits, Mehta told PTI, weeping inconsolably. The Hazaribag police have registered an FIR against four people in connection with the incident which took place in Ichak police station area on Thursday.
An FIR has been registered against one named and three unnamed persons. A search operation is on and the accused will be nabbed soon, Ichak police station in-charge Dhananjay Singh told PTI. A special investigation team, headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (HQ) Rajeev Kumar has been formed to arrest the culprits, Hazaribag superintendent of police Manoj Ratan Chothe said.
Mehta alleged, the agent was threatening that he would crush us under the tractor if we did not give him the way. And he did exactly what he said. My daughter was crushed twice under the vehicle. The eldest of his four children, the woman was married to a businessman of Dumron village on May 24, last year.
My son-in-law was on his way to Assam for work when the incident took place, he said. Noting that his daughter was good at studies, Mehta said, She had completed her graduation and wanted to pursue post-graduation but she was married off by then. His son-in-law Kuldeep said that he sent his wife to her maternal house four days back as he had to go to Assam.
After receiving the news, he returned to Hazaribag and fell unconscious after seeing his wife's body. God will not forgive those who have done this, he said. Meanwhile, Union Minister of state for Education Annapurna Devi met the grief-stricken family on Saturday and demanded immediate action against the persons involved in the crime.
She also urged the state government to provide Rs 20 lakh as compensation to the family. According to police, Mehta had received a message on his mobile phone from a finance company on Thursday asking him to pay Rs 1.3 lakh, outstanding from a loan he had taken from the firm to buy the tractor.
The company had also threatened to take away the tractor, which was parked at a nearby petrol pump on NH-33 if the money was not paid, the police said. Mehta immediately rushed to the spot and found a recovery agent taking away the tractor, the SP said. He ran after the vehicle and told the recovery agent that he was willing to pay Rs 1.2 lakh immediately but the man insisted that he must clear his entire dues if he wanted possession of the tractor.
As the recovery agent refused to listen to the man's plea and kept on driving the tractor, his pregnant daughter, who had reached the spot, ran after the vehicle and was crushed to death under its wheels, the SP said. A large number of villagers, mostly women, demonstrated in front of the Hazaribagh collectorate with the body on Friday and demanded the immediate arrest of the manager and recovery agent of the finance company. (PTI)
