KARACHI, April 26:The family of young Jagdeesh Kumar, who was beaten to death by his factory co-workers for allegedly making blasphemous remarks about the Holy Prophet, has returned to the city after spending more than two weeks in Mirpurkhas, their hometown, to mourn his death.

However, the members of this Hindu family find it hard to restart a normal life with the “stain” of blasphemy on their whole community, which they believe is a lie to cover up the real motive behind the 20-year-old’s murder.

“Until we get justice, we have to live with the same lie, which sparks fear among our community,” said Rameshri, elder sister of Kumar who was was killed in a factory in Korangi on April 8.

A resident of Mirpurkhas, Kumar lived in Lyari with his sister and brother-in-law to earn a livelihood. His brutal end has raised questions about the performance of the police, who, despite reaching the spot, failed to prevent the workmen from beating their colleague to death.

Though the police arrested three of his co-workers, the family and the workers are not satisfied with the investigation. But the fear which has gripped the whole community after the incident makes the family a little cautious about pursuing the case.

“We never experienced such a situation even in our ancestral home in Mirpurkhas,” said Sundri, another sister of Kumar. “Neither do we want compensation, nor any financial support. We need justice, which would remove such an allegation against our community,” she added.

Wrapped in traditional saris, Kumar’s five sisters do not feel confident about even discussing their own religion. They consider themselves “illiterate” and not able to talk about any religion.

“How can a person who has come to earn bread for his poor family indulge in such a discussion, about something he doesn’t know anything about,” said Gopi, one of the sisters. Kumar was the youngest among five sisters and three brothers.

The lynching came as a shock to political and human rights activists. It also attracted criticism from religious circles. The case, however, appears to be going nowhere, as the police took it as a reaction to the alleged blasphemy committed by Kumar, while the family suspects the real reason is being covered up.

“We have reason to believe that there is a cover-up,” said Ratan Kumar, a minority councillor of a union council in Lyari’s Marwari Mohalla, which has been home to dozens of Hindu families for decades. “It’s the police’s job to find the real culprits. The people who have been arrested are part of the crime, not the masterminds. It’s a case of murder, not blasphemy,” he added.

After the murder, Kumar’s family found out that his brawl inside his workplace was not the first. “But no one says it before the police or the media,” said one of his sisters. “If justice is done and the culprits are punished, it would give us comfort and also remove the fear prevailing within our community. This would make our people feel confident, that they are citizens with all fundamental rights,” she added.

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