The parents and other family members of the victims of the killings at Nithari in Noida of Uttar Pradesh continue to remain highly traumatised and wait for adequate measures to ensure their safety. Before the media exposed their sad stories, the police refused to entertain their request for a First Information Report (FIR) on the missing children. Had the police taken the complaints and acted, the barbaric killings could have been avoided and the culprits punished.

All India Christian Council (aicc), deeply shaken by the sheer brutality of the killings of 38 people in Noida, most of them Dalits, deputed a fact-finding team to know what had gone wrong with the system. Surprisingly the team was stopped for some time by District Magistrate Chouhan and police personnel, fearing that the Christian community would extend a helping hand to the parents and families of the victims.

The fact-finding team, led by Dr John Dayal (Secretary General of All India Christian Council (aicc), President of All India Catholic Union and Member of National Integration Council), included Fr Dominic Emmanuel (Spokesperson of Delhi Archdiocese), Sr Mary Scaria (Supreme Court Advocate), Madhu Chandra (aicc Regional Secretary), MD Jose (aicc Social Justice Secretary) and Fr Dominic Bosco (Director of Social Forum of North Region).

Although the Government of Uttar Pradesh had announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for each family of the victims, only eight parents received the aid so far.  The remaining, especially those from other states, continued to wait for their turn without any assurance whether they would get any compensation.

A parent of a missing child said, “The children of rich families and upper castes living around Nithari village do not get their children lost. By chance if someone from them were to go missing, there would be a lot of police, public and government support to trace the missing. But in our case, there is no one to listen and help.”

Nithari is a tiny village surrounded by the posh buildings of High Tech City of Noida.  Most of the victims hailed from Bihar, West Bengal and Nepal, belonging to Dalit communities and minority religions.

Condemning the unfortunate incident, Dr John Dayal, said, “Nithari is another form of child abuse, particularly that of the girl child. I appeal to all Church-based NGOs to come forward and stand by the families of the victims and assist the needy, poor and marginalized communities of Nithari village.” He also urged the Nepal Embassy to ensure the safety of their citizens living in India.

Other demands of the team included immediate measures by the Central and State Governments to provide trauma counselling to the parents and other members of the victims’ families “who continue to live in shock”, legal aid to the affected parents and balwadi and anganwadi for non-school going children.