DOMINEERING FAMILY OCCUPED THE HOME OF AN ELDERLY WOMAN

DOMINEERING FAMILY OCCUPED THE HOME OF AN ELDERLY WOMAN

11-OCT-ENG 1

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

SASARAM-----------------------------Despite repeatedly pleading with both local and senior officials over the past week, the encroachers refuse to vacate the house. According to the 70-year-old victim, Savitri Devi—a resident of Mauja-Baheri village under the Kargahar police station area—she had locked her house and traveled to Varanasi for a holy dip in the Ganges on the occasion of Jivitputrika (October 2nd). She alleges that members of her own extended family (kin) occupied the house by locking the main door from the inside and welding it shut. When she protested, they attacked her with bricks and stones and threatened to kill her while brandishing weapons.

She has submitted a formal complaint to the Kargahar police station, requesting the registration of an FIR and legal action. In her complaint, she stated that she had gone to visit her sons in Varanasi for the Jitiya Vrat. Upon returning home on October 6, she found the main door locked from the inside. The woman alleges that her relatives—Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Gaya Narayan Pathak, and Arun Kumar Pathak—summoned a welder named Rakesh Mistri (a resident of Reva) and had the door welded shut from the inside. She claims that despite her calling out, the door was not opened. She subsequently alerted the police by calling the emergency number 112, but the door remained closed even after the police arrived. Around 5:20 PM, while attempts were being made to get the door opened, Gaya Narayan Pathak, Vijay Bahadur Pathak, Arun Kumar Pathak, and Suryavansh Lal began pelting bricks and stones from the roof. The woman, who was threatened with death while a rifle was brandished at her, states that her husband and son had previously been subjected to a life-threatening attack; a case regarding that incident (Case No. 322/2022) is currently pending. According to the victim, she and her family face a continuing threat to their lives and property following the incident, and it has become difficult for them to even enter their own home. Her complaint mentions that jewelry worth approximately ₹20 lakh, ₹2 lakh in cash, and other household items are inside the house. She has demanded that the Kargahar police station conduct an impartial investigation, register an FIR against the accused, and take appropriate legal action. Furthermore, she stated that she has appealed to the local police administration, the Circle Officer, and senior district officials, yet despite running from pillar to post for a week, no action has been taken. Officials have told her to go and live elsewhere, stating that the administration will assist only after a court verdict is reached. The issue at hand is that a legal dispute regarding the land in question is already pending in court; how, then, can someone suddenly and forcibly take possession of the land in the interim? She remains in a state of uncertainty, waiting for the administration to facilitate access to her home.