'Only the Poor Die': Nagpur Riots Claim First Victim, Family's Sole Breadwinner

Irfan Ansari, a welder by profession, was atatcked by a mob on his way to the railway station on 17 March.

(Photo: PTI)

On 17 November, while communal violence was underway in Maharashtra's Nagpur, Irfan Ansari boarded an auto-rickshaw at about 11:00 pm to go the Nagpur railway station.

Communal tensions were high through the day following protests by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal to demand for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb and alleged desecration of a holy chadar during their demonstrations.

Irfan, a resident of Banda Nawaz Nagar and a welder by profession, was to catch a train to Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, post midnight.

As he reached Gitanjali Chowk in Hansapuri area, about a kilometer away from the station, the driver abandoned Irfan after seeing a mob ahead. He decided to avoid the main road and walk the rest of the distance via small gullies. But what should have been a 15-minute walk turned fatal after he encountered a mob in one of the internal lanes he was passing by.

"The family told him to postpone his journey that day. If only he had listened, he would have been alive," Imran Ansari, his younger brother, told The Quint over the phone, still processing his brother's death in the holy month of Ramzan.

"He was immediately taken to the hospital by the police. I received a call at 1:00 am from a doctor. We immediately rushed there," Imran said.

Irfan was hit by a rod on the head, had a wound from a sharp object on the back, and had bruises all over the body from being kicked repeatedly, he said. "He was full of blood when we first saw him that night. He was in severe pain and could hardly talk. We told him that he would be treated and will get better soon," Imran recalled.

On 19 March, Irfan was put on a ventilator and was mostly unconscious since. He succumbed to the injuries at 1:20 pm on 22 March.

Second of Six Siblings, Wanted Daughter To Become a Doctor

Irfan, the sole breadwinner of the family, left behind a wife and a daughter. Despite the family's advise against stepping out due to the violence, he said he would take a different route.

"He wanted to educate his daughter, he wanted her to be a doctor. He would earn to be able to afford her education. She is in class 12. Who will fund her education now?" Imran said.

With a monthly income of about Rs 60,000-70,000, Irfan ran a small welding unit near his house. He would go to Itarsi for work at least twice or thrice a month.

"The family needs to be compensated. The rest of us are not that financially well-off. My elder brother has a tea stall, another brother is an auto-rickshaw driver, I don't have a proper business yet, and two of our sisters are married. She is his only child," Imran said.

Irfan's wife Uzma, a homemaker, is still in shock, he said.

"All we want is that the culprits shoud be identified and punished. He was the only earning member. His wife must get a government job, the government needs to fund her education. It is only the poor who die," he said.

Two Attackers Arrested So Far

The police filed an FIR after taking Irfan's statement at the hospital and the family's statement at their residence, Imran said.

"Two people were identified, arrested, and booked for attempted murder is what the police had told us. We don't know their names or identities yet," he said.

Imran said that if it was not for the policemen who ensured Irfan's immediate hospitalisation, he would have lost his brother on 17 March.

"We were thankful to them, they did their best to support us," Imran said.

The police provided protection to the family after he was hospitalised, he said. A detailed statement on Irfan's death from the police is awaited.

Five days since the violence, Nagpur remains tense even as curfew from most areas was lifted

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that "bulldozer action will be taken wherever required."

"We will act strictly, wherever bulldozer action is required, that will be taken. No one will be spared," Fadnavis said.