'Throw your baby down'

Megha Suri / TNN / Mar 28, 2006, 00:34 IST

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"I have a baby who's getting choked by the smoke," she pleaded. "Throw it down," came the chilling reply.

NEW DELHI: Three-month-old Priya can't stop crying. But her mother, 24-year-old Geeta Pal, isn't weeping �� she's chosen to channel her trauma into anger instead. "How could they do such a thing?" she asks furiously.
The 'they' being a rampant mob who set a building in Rajat Vihar (in Noida's Sector 62) ablaze. And an assembled group of almost 500 policemen who ignored her cries for help from the third floor of the burning building.
Eventually, one policeman responded. He told her they couldn't help, so she should tie some sarees together and climb down. "I have a baby who's getting choked by the smoke," she pleaded. "Throw it down," came the chilling reply.
In desperation, that's what Geeta did. "I kept screaming for help till a fire tender arrived. But I was unable to climb down the ladder with my daughter in my arms and the mob throwing bricks. I threw her and asked my neighbours to catch her."

Fortunately, a group of young boys who live in the same building were standing downstairs. Miraculously, they caught Priya. Or else, the mob fury could have ended in unforgivable tragedy.
And what caused that fury �� which culminated in 30 people, including eight policemen, being injured and around 20 detained? Construction of a wall!
Around 10.30 am on Monday, Noida Authority officials arrived to build a boundary wall between Rajat Vihar and Khoda colony. They were acting on a recent order by the Allahabad High Court.

"Khoda residents routinely enter Rajat Vihar. There have been several instances of robbery, car theft, chain-snatching and eve-teasing. The Noida Authority's plan clearly shows a boundary wall, which is why we invested in flats so close to Khoda.
A wall exists, but has several openings. So we asked for it to be sealed. The court instructed that the openings be closed and the wall completed," said Pratap Singh Bisht, member of the Rajat Vihar RWA.
The residents of Khoda, however, were having none of it."Almost 6 lakh people live in Khoda. The path through Rajat Vihar is the only way to Noida.
If it's closed, we'll have to detour five-six km. We've been using this route for 30 years. How can these newcomers block it?" asked Joginder Singh, a Khoda resident.
Unfortunately, instead of protesting with words, the Khoda-dwellers erupted into violence. About 5,000 residents took to the streets and pelted stones, burnt several cars and two flats at Rajat Vihar.
The police fired in the air, lobbed teargas shells and staged a lathi-charge �� to little avail. Ultimately, the crowd apparently quietened down after the pradhan of Khoda, Minta Yadav, appealed for peace.
Meanwhile, Geeta �� who had come visiting her parents the previous night �� was sweeping the house. "Around 11 am, police started to gather near the wall. The villagers began throwing stones. Some bricks hit our house.
The crowd set our car on fire, then set the ground and second floors ablaze. The police lobbed teargas shells. Soon, the entire house filled up with smoke."
Choking, Geeta ran to the rear balcony, only to realise the villagers had reached there as well and were throwing stones. That's when she called out for help. And received the response she'll never forget.

End of Article