Court proceedings in Prayagraj turned tense once again on Monday as Jaya Pal, wife of Umesh Pal, appeared to record her statement in the trial against the accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. After testifying, she once again said her life was under threat and appealed to the Yogi government to strengthen her security.
The formal trial against the accused has begun in the SC-ST court, and it was in connection with this that Jaya Pal had to appear before the court. During her statement, she repeated that she keeps receiving death threats, and that her security will remain a concern until the absconding accused are arrested.
Three accused still out of police reach
Two years have passed since Umesh Pal was murdered, but the three henchmen of mafia Atiq who carried out the attack, Guddu Muslim, Sabir and Arman, remain untraced. Police have announced a reward of five lakh rupees each on the three, yet the sizeable reward has not produced a single lead so far. Atiq's wife Shaista Parveen and Ashraf's wife are also said to be absconding. Because these accused remain at large, Jaya Pal says her life is directly under threat, and that people linked to Atiq are still out to get her.
Threats on Facebook, talk of killing her with RDX
According to Jaya Pal, the threats are not just verbal, they are also being made continuously on social media. She alleges that posts on Facebook say Umar and Ali should be allowed to come out, after which old scores will be settled. In court, she said, "My husband was brutally murdered, will the same happen to me?" She also said she keeps getting threats of being blown up with RDX or shot dead, which has left her and her family deeply frightened.
Demand for justice, claim that the gang is still active
Jaya Pal appealed to the court in clear terms for justice, saying the threat to her life will not go away until the absconding accused are put behind bars. She also claimed that Atiq's gang is still active, and that a man linked to the gang shows up from time to time signalling her to stay quiet, which appears aimed only at intimidating her. During the previous hearing too, she had alleged that someone was seen conducting recce around her house.
Since the Umesh Pal murder case, policemen have continuously been deployed at Jaya Pal's house to ensure her security. But she has to repeatedly step out of the house to attend court hearings, and it is at exactly those moments that she feels most unsafe. That is why she has once again appealed to the government to tighten her security, speed up the hunt for the absconding accused, and ensure justice for her family.
