GURUGRAM: The kin of jailed Ashok Kumar (42) feel vindicated at the CBI's clean chit to the bus conductor, who has been languishing in jail for the past two months on charge of Pradhyumn Thakur's murder.
Half the battle won, they are now planning to file a case against the Gurgaon police and demand compensation for implicating Ashok and torturing him to "give a false confessional statement".
Ashok's lawyer Mohit Verma said his main aim right now was to ensure his bail at the earliest.
Ashok was picked up by Gurgaon police from Ryan International School at Bhondsi, a few hours after Pradhyumn was found murdered inside a toilet on the campus on September 8.
The unusual haste with which the cops had made the arrest and claimed to have cracked the murder mystery had even prompted Pradhyumn's father Barun to question the police investigation and demand a CBI probe.
After living with a social stigma and coping with utter penury for the two months at their Ghamroj village home, the family finally heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday as the CBI arrested a Class XI student in connection with the murder of Class II boy Pradhyumn.
"The CBI investigation has proved that my son is innocent. From Day One, I have been crying foul but no one listened to me. I have gone to Bhondsi jail thrice to meet Ashok so far. His condition has worsened over the past two months... he has not been eating, and crying all the while, hoping to get out of the jail soon. Even the last time I met him, he said 'papa I didn't do this, police forcibly took my confession'," Ami Chand, Ashok's father, said.
As the news spread and this nondescript village on the city's outskirts came to spotlight again, Ashok's mother Kela Devi regained her smile. "These two months have been a living hell for us. Ashok was the only earning member in our family. Since his arrest, we didn't have money to buy ration. Some people donated money to help us buy food every day," she said.
They also had to cope with the stigma of being the family members of a murder accused. "Whenever I went out of the village, people pointed fingers at me 'see this is Ashok's mother'. Every single day, I would keep my eyes on the door, hoping my son would come home," the mother said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Ashok's wife Mamta said she was not going to believe the news until her husband came back home. "My kids (seven and nine year-old) had been asking when their father would come back. I had no answer. The police had framed him to avoid a backlash from the common people (in the wake of Pradhyumn's murder). When he comes out of jail, I don't want him to work for the school (Ryan school, Bhondsi) again. All this while, no one came from the school to ask us if we were alive. Outside our village, no one was speaking with us as if we were all criminals. Now, finally, we can move around with our heads held high."
However, as Chand said, the fight is still not over. "A kid has been arrested in this case. I won't sit back till Ashok's name is cleared from this case. We will take this fight head on," he added.
Monu, a neighbour, said, "The police had mercilessly tortured Ashok. Who will bring back the two months he spent in jail? Our whole village will fight for justice."
Ashok's lawyer Verma said he was likely to be produced in Sohna court very soon. "I'm hopeful that CBI will produce a challan in court in this case at the earliest. Based on that challan, we will demand bail for Ashok," said Mohit.
On the police investigation, he said the Gurgaon police did not probe the case properly. "We will file a defamation case against the police for tarnishing Ashok's image. Ashok was framed as the main accused without even looking at other possible angles. The police tortured him to extract a confessional statement. They will have to compensate him for his time in jail," said Mohit.
Half the battle won, they are now planning to file a case against the Gurgaon police and demand compensation for implicating Ashok and torturing him to "give a false confessional statement".
Ashok's lawyer Mohit Verma said his main aim right now was to ensure his bail at the earliest.
Ashok was picked up by Gurgaon police from Ryan International School at Bhondsi, a few hours after Pradhyumn was found murdered inside a toilet on the campus on September 8.
The unusual haste with which the cops had made the arrest and claimed to have cracked the murder mystery had even prompted Pradhyumn's father Barun to question the police investigation and demand a CBI probe.
After living with a social stigma and coping with utter penury for the two months at their Ghamroj village home, the family finally heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday as the CBI arrested a Class XI student in connection with the murder of Class II boy Pradhyumn.
"The CBI investigation has proved that my son is innocent. From Day One, I have been crying foul but no one listened to me. I have gone to Bhondsi jail thrice to meet Ashok so far. His condition has worsened over the past two months... he has not been eating, and crying all the while, hoping to get out of the jail soon. Even the last time I met him, he said 'papa I didn't do this, police forcibly took my confession'," Ami Chand, Ashok's father, said.
As the news spread and this nondescript village on the city's outskirts came to spotlight again, Ashok's mother Kela Devi regained her smile. "These two months have been a living hell for us. Ashok was the only earning member in our family. Since his arrest, we didn't have money to buy ration. Some people donated money to help us buy food every day," she said.
They also had to cope with the stigma of being the family members of a murder accused. "Whenever I went out of the village, people pointed fingers at me 'see this is Ashok's mother'. Every single day, I would keep my eyes on the door, hoping my son would come home," the mother said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Ashok's wife Mamta said she was not going to believe the news until her husband came back home. "My kids (seven and nine year-old) had been asking when their father would come back. I had no answer. The police had framed him to avoid a backlash from the common people (in the wake of Pradhyumn's murder). When he comes out of jail, I don't want him to work for the school (Ryan school, Bhondsi) again. All this while, no one came from the school to ask us if we were alive. Outside our village, no one was speaking with us as if we were all criminals. Now, finally, we can move around with our heads held high."
However, as Chand said, the fight is still not over. "A kid has been arrested in this case. I won't sit back till Ashok's name is cleared from this case. We will take this fight head on," he added.
Monu, a neighbour, said, "The police had mercilessly tortured Ashok. Who will bring back the two months he spent in jail? Our whole village will fight for justice."
Ashok's lawyer Verma said he was likely to be produced in Sohna court very soon. "I'm hopeful that CBI will produce a challan in court in this case at the earliest. Based on that challan, we will demand bail for Ashok," said Mohit.
On the police investigation, he said the Gurgaon police did not probe the case properly. "We will file a defamation case against the police for tarnishing Ashok's image. Ashok was framed as the main accused without even looking at other possible angles. The police tortured him to extract a confessional statement. They will have to compensate him for his time in jail," said Mohit.
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