11 Pak migrants' alleged suicide: Victim in video accuses 'gang' of harassment, police of not acting

Jodhpur: Days after the death allegedly by suicide of 11 members of a family of Hindu migrants from Pakistan in a village in Jodhpur district, a video has surfaced in which one of the victims gives a detailed account of the harassment they were facing at the hands of their relatives and a purported gang.

The one and a half hours long video was in the mobile phone of Laxmi, one of the victims, that was found in the shack where the bodies were discovered, police said.

According to Laxmi's account in the video that has been viewed by PTI, after the family came to India in 2015 due to fears of religious persecution in the neighbouring country, they got embroiled in a row with their relatives here as well as a gang that allegedly tried to control their lives.

We had no idea that we would be subjected to a new ordeal in India not only by others but by our own people, Laxmi said in the video.

She said the family fled Pakistan and came to India on the insistence of Dhandali, the now estranged wife of her brother Kewal Ram who is the lone surviving member of the family. Dhandali's family was already settled in Jodhpur. Right after we arrived here, Dhandali shifted to her parents' house and started harassing us along with her family and others, claiming the custody of her children, Laxmi said.

In the video, Laxmi alleged that there was a racket run by a gang that tried to control the lives of those who came to live in Jodhpur. The gang scared the migrants into following its advise in order to remain safe and protected, she said.

These gang members began harassing us also and had eye on all of us four sisters. One of our sisters died due to their pressures in 2017. They also forcibly managed to get our brother Ravi married to Sharifa, a cousin of Dhandali, who also sided with them to harass us, Laxmi said in her elaborate account, adding that alleged gang members also wanted the sisters to marry as per their wish. Laxmi and her sister Priya were both qualified nurses, but while Priya had been working in a nearby clinic, Laxmi could not work as her certificate was destroyed by this alleged gang, she said.

Laxmi also alleged that the family had approached the police but they did not take any action.

She said the family had shifted to Dechu tehsil to work in farms to escape the harassment in Jodhpur but it did not help. She also said she filed a complaint with the Dechu police but the police also allegedly harassed her family.

The police cases began with the first case registered by Dhandali in Mandore police station on July 16, 2019 accusing her husband Kewal Ram and his sisters of harassment. This was followed by a series of cases and counter cases from both the sides against each other, Laxmi stated in the video.