Saini Sa'aB
K00l$@!n!
Fatehabad: An Right to Information (RTI) activist, Jagdish Sharma, paid a heavy price for exposing a racket at Chandrawal village of Fatehabad district in Haryana.
Sharma was attacked and his daughter-in-law Sonu was killed after he tried to find out about pension money being siphoned off by the local Sarpanch and others.
It all started when Sharma and his friends filed an RTI to find out about their pension money. They complained to the district officers but nothing happened.
They then approached the court which registered a case against the Sarpanch, district social welfare officer and fourteen others.
On Saturday, several angry villagers blocked the Sarpanch's way and lied down in front of his vehicle, demanding to sort out the pension issue.
The Sarpanch drove right over the villagers injuring many including Mahabir's daughter-in-law, who later died in a hospital in Hissar.
"There were these four or five women standing here when they came. They started hitting the daughter-in-law and when she fell on the floor they ran their car over her and fled away," said an eye-witness.
Sonu's two young sons are still not aware of their mother's death.
"I haven't told the children that she is dead. Now, I am their mother and I'll have to bring them up as a single parent", said Sonu's husband.
The police claim that Sharma and the Sarpanch are old rivals and the RTI filed by Sharma further aggravated matters.
The Sarpanch has been arrested but RTI activists claim that such incidents will only deter people from exposing the corrupt.
"This is a message to anyone raising their voice against corruption, that you will be killed", said Arvind Kejriwal, renowned RTI activist.
The state government, meanwhile, tried to assure all those fighting against corruption.
Gopal Kanda, Home Minister, Haryana said, "I will speak to the Chief Minister about what we can do further to ensure that people do not get scared because of this incident."
Sharma was attacked and his daughter-in-law Sonu was killed after he tried to find out about pension money being siphoned off by the local Sarpanch and others.
It all started when Sharma and his friends filed an RTI to find out about their pension money. They complained to the district officers but nothing happened.
They then approached the court which registered a case against the Sarpanch, district social welfare officer and fourteen others.
On Saturday, several angry villagers blocked the Sarpanch's way and lied down in front of his vehicle, demanding to sort out the pension issue.
The Sarpanch drove right over the villagers injuring many including Mahabir's daughter-in-law, who later died in a hospital in Hissar.
"There were these four or five women standing here when they came. They started hitting the daughter-in-law and when she fell on the floor they ran their car over her and fled away," said an eye-witness.
Sonu's two young sons are still not aware of their mother's death.
"I haven't told the children that she is dead. Now, I am their mother and I'll have to bring them up as a single parent", said Sonu's husband.
The police claim that Sharma and the Sarpanch are old rivals and the RTI filed by Sharma further aggravated matters.
The Sarpanch has been arrested but RTI activists claim that such incidents will only deter people from exposing the corrupt.
"This is a message to anyone raising their voice against corruption, that you will be killed", said Arvind Kejriwal, renowned RTI activist.
The state government, meanwhile, tried to assure all those fighting against corruption.
Gopal Kanda, Home Minister, Haryana said, "I will speak to the Chief Minister about what we can do further to ensure that people do not get scared because of this incident."
