Woman injured in cop action dies
A 51-year-old woman, who was battling for life for around four months in a hospital here after she sustained serious spinal injuries in a police crackdown against yoga guru Ramdev’s fast at Ramlila Maidan, died here on Monday.
Rajbala, who was in a critical condition for the past 114 days, breathed her last at the neurosurgery department ICU of G.B. Pant Hospital here at 10.25 am, doctors said.
Admitted on June 4 after the midnight crackdown on Ramdev’s supporters, Rajbala, a resident of Gurgaon, underwent surgery. She remained on ventilator since then and had become a quadriplegic.
The police action, which attracted criticism from several quarters, to evict Ramdev and his supporters from Ramlila Maidan in the early hours of June 4 resulted in injuries to several people, including police personnel.
Ramdev and her family had alleged that she was injured in police lathicharge. However, the police had denied that there was a lathicharge. The Delhi police also suggested Rajbala was suffering from “gross” osteoporosis -- thinning of bone tissue — and this could have led to her suffering serious injuries. Grieving family members blamed the Delhi police for her death. “She died due to police action. Everybody knows why police took such action against the protest. We want our mother back. Can they do that?” said Rakesh Malik, her daughter-in-law.
Expressing grief over Rajbala’s death, the Bharatiya Janata Party said it had “exposed” the claim by the police, made before the Supreme Court, that there was no lathicharge on the protesters.
“It has exposed the cruel face of the government. We demand filing a murder case against home minister P. Chidambaram,” BJP Delhi Pradesh president Vijendra Gupta said. The BJP on Monday also demanded a murder case to be lodged against the Delhi police. Condoling the death of Rajbala, Baba Ramdev said it was an “irreparable loss to the whole organisation” against corruption.
“This is the ultimate sacrifice. Her sacrifice will not go in vain,” he said.
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