Hours after her two sons, 6 and 11, were brutally murdered, allegedly by a man the family knew well, a mother in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun is asking one question repeatedly – Why? Sangita, the mother of Ayush and Ahaan, recounted to NDTV the events leading to the crime that has shocked the neighbourhood. The accused, Sajid, ran a barber shop near the family’s two-storey house. He was later shot dead in an encounter.
Around 6 pm yesterday, Sajid shut his shop and came over. He asked for a hair clip for women. Sangita, who ran a beauty parlour, gave him one. Then he told me, ‘Bhabhi, I need Rs 5,000’. I called my husband and he asked me to give him the money. I gave him Rs 5,000. He said he needed money because his wife is in the hospital and is due for delivery at 11 pm,” she said.
“He then said he is anxious and the wait seems long. I said it will pass. I gave him a cup of tea and he went upstairs with my eldest son (Ayush). There he killed my sons. My seven-year-old son ran downstairs. Even he had been attacked and his hand was bleeding. He would have been killed too, but he escaped,” she said.
The family has told police that Sajid fled with his brother Javed, who was waiting outside. The police have said that when they caught up with Sajid, he fired at them and was shot dead in retaliatory firing. Javed is still on the run.
An FIR has been registered and there is no clarity yet on the motive behind the crime. The family has denied reports that there was a dispute between the children’s father Vinod and Sajid. However, Vinod has denied any dispute. “I had no dispute with him. I was away for work when he came,” he has told NDTV.
Asked what could be the motive behind the crime, Sangita replied, “We have no enmity with anybody, I do not know if someone else is behind this. Javed should be questioned in front of us. He should be asked why they did this. Did someone else put them to it?”
Bareilly police chief Dr Rakesh Kumar Singh said they are investigating the motive behind the double murder. “Sajid was shot dead in an encounter after he opened fire at police. An Inspector has suffered injuries. We have called in the forensic team to gather evidence,” he said, adding that police will also act against those who set Sajid’s shop on fire after the murders.
