The last 12 days have been hellish for Megha Madan Nayak, who saw her father, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Madan Nayak, being brutally attacked on May 6 when he tried to stop a group of drunken revellers from feeding crocodiles in the river in the Dandeli-Anshi tiger reserve. Her grief over his death is mingled with a determination to see that her father's killers are put behind bars.
Her anger is not only directed at the men who assaulted the ACF when he was merely doing his duty as a forester, but also at the Dandeli police who allegedly tried to strike a deal with him for five long hours while he bled internally from the injuries inflicted on him during the attack. The result has been tragic in more ways than one. Not only has she lost her father, but she is now the sole bread winner of her family although she still has to complete her education.
“I study in Bengaluru and my mother lives with my younger brother in Hubli. We have no immediate relatives. All we had was our father and it’s so difficult without him around,” she says painfully, adding with despair, "My father’s killers are still roaming free. The four persons who attacked us are nowhere on the police's wanted list and nor have they been caught. Only those who attacked but did not kill my father have been apprehended., while the men who actually held him and beat him up are still at large . When the police have been able to arrest the two women accused of assaulting me and my mother, how difficult can it be for them to find the four who killed my father?”
The Brutal Attack
Happy to be reunited with his family, ACF Madan Nayak took his wife and children to the Dandelappa temple on the banks of the river Kali. But he hadn't reckoned with a group of drunken revellers disrupting their day out. Like the dutiful forester he was, he couldn't help but intervene when he saw them feeding crocodiles in the river near the temple. Telling them it was illegal to feed the crocs, he tried to stop them, but found himself being brutally assaulted in the process. A couple of women also pulled Megha and her mother by their hair and kicked them. The ACF who was later admitted to a hospital in Dharwad, died on May 8 from his injuries.