The judgement in the gang-rape case of the 23-year-old physiotherapist in the Capital on December 16 last year has brought a glimmer of hope for Tapsi Choudhary, whose 17-year-old budding airhostess daughter died in mysterious circumstances more than four years ago.
The 43-year-old mother, who has been waging a lone battle against her daughter’s tormentors, has stepped up the pace for seeking justice. In the Capital for the last two months, Choudhary led the candle light march and signature campaign for garnering support for her dead daughter at Jantar Mantar on December 19. On Monday, she sought time to see President Pranab Mukherjee to put forward her request for stepping up action to book the guilty.
The victim, Moushmi Choudhury, was barely four days away from completing her training schedule at Air Hostess Academy (AHA), when she died under mysterious circumstances at Hotel Sonnet in Jamshedpur.
Although the mother alleges Moushmi was murdered after sexual assault, the CBI, which investigated the case first on the directions of the Jharkhand High Court and then on the orders of the Supreme Court, concluded that she died accidentally after sustaining injuries after her scarf got entangled in the press machine at the hotel's laundry where she was training. In fact, after directions from the Jharkhand High Court, the CBI investigated into the matter twice.
"It seems that the weak and poor have no right to justice. It is over four years since my daughter was murdered after being sexually assaulted but the police are yet register an FIR," a teary-eyed Choudhary told The Pioneer.
She claimed that the perpetrators are all strong and mighty. “Ravi Parekh (industrialist), Dheeraj Vig (director at Airhostess Academy), Investigating Officer Neeraj Mishra and Tata officials Partha Sengupta and Farzan R Hirzi have all ganged up. They have threatened me to close down my case but I am fearless. I will fight," Choudhary alleged.
"CBI investigations were only a farce. I am alive as I have faith in the judiciary and I know it will come to my rescue and give me my much awaited justice," she said.
"Moushmi was admitted to the Tata Main Hospital for treatment where she succumbed to her injuries on May 9, 2009. But, she was officially declared dead only on May 20," she pointed out.
What deepens the mystery is that that the doctor Prabhat Kumar, who refused to admit the "dead patient" in emergency, and could have been a crucial witness in the investigations, was shot in cold blood in December by two assailants, who were later declared absconding by the police.
"My husband left me when my son, who is now 16, was barely two months old. I raised both my children independently. Both had dreams and wanted to make it big. While my daughter is gone, my poor son is having to fight his battle for realising his dreams all by himself as I, his only family have a bigger responsibility to fulfill. I need to get justice for my daughter," said the mother.
Choudhary, who worked as a cook in multiple homes for livelihood, had taken a loan of `1.18 lakh from Central Bank of India's Golmuri branch in Jamshedpur. It has now grown into `1.48 lakh with interest.
"I can't pay the loan. I have appealed to them for a waiver," she said, as matter of fact. "Moushmi's spirit comes to me almost every night and says, Maa I wanted to live, they killed me. Don't let them go. Punish them. Hang them, she tells me," said the mother, whose only aim in life now is to see Moushmi's killers arrested and justice done to her dead daughter.