'We wanted him to be a doctor'

MUMBAI: Shilajeet Yadav's death has come as a bolt from the blue for his family. The youngest of four brothers, Shilajeet was the darling of the family and despite their humble background his father had grand plans for his future.
"My son was fond of studying. He would get up at 6am even on holidays to prepare for his exams. We wanted him to be a doctor, but there is no point thinking about all these things now," said his father Murli Yadav.A channa seller, Murli told TOI that ever since Shilajeet was born his older brothers had saved up to send him to a good school. He was studying in Class IX in Mahalakshmi Mandir school.
Shilajeet's mother stays in their village in Uttar Pradesh and was informed of his death on Monday afternoon. "She is completely shattered and has fallen sick. The neighbors called us to say that she has high fever and is not eating or talking to anyone. We are going home to take care of her but she has told us not to come without Shilajeet," said Sabhajeet, the victim's eldest brother, a taxi driver.
Sabhajeet was not optimistic of justice for his brother as the family had limited means and would never be able to match Hirawat's muscle power. "Forget about the police, I have lost faith in God as well. I don't understand why that man could not have stopped the car and helped my brother. Maybe the few extra minutes would have saved his life. Instead he ran off, not thinking it was worth his time to get out of his air-conditioned car to clean up the mess he created. We would not even treat animals like that," he said.
When TOI went to Hirawat's house, his brother-in-law Rishab Jain said he had gone to a temple and would not be back for a few hours. Jain refused to comment on the incident, claiming he didn't know much about the sequence of events himself.