: A 45-year-old government schoolteacher died after allegedly being assaulted with sticks and knives by a group of people, including a local Congress women’s wing president, in Tahir village under Kalwari police station limits in Basti on Tuesday.
She had also approached the Allahabad high court, but her petition was dismissed, he claimed. His father was cleaning the area near the house gate, while his mother was sitting on a chair nearby. “Lakshmi came on her scooter and abused us, threatening that she would spill blood that day. They arrived armed with sticks and knives and attacked us,” he alleged. Neighbours took the injured family members to the district hospital, where Sudha succumbed to her injuries in the afternoon. Sudha is survived by four children.
Sudha’s son, Akhilesh, 24, told the police that the dispute dates back three years, when Lakshmi had complained that his mother had secured her government job using forged marksheets. She then called Alok Yadav, Premchand Yadav and 10-12 others from her house.
“Since then, she had been holding a grudge against my mother and our family,” Akhilesh alleged. Recounting Tuesday’s incident, he said the family had come to their village from Ayodhya for Diwali. Sudha’s husband said that the family was attacked around 8am with sticks and knives.
As she reached near the teacher’s house, an argument broke out between the two women. Sudha was a teacher at a government school in Nawabganj, Gonda, while her husband teaches at a private college. The family has alleged that the attack was the outcome of an old dispute with Lakshmi, who lives around 300 metres from their house.
Basti’s Kalwari circle officer (CO) Brijesh Singh said the altercation began when Lakshmi Yadav, the Congress leader, was returning to her in-laws’ house in Tahirpur from her parental home in Baijalpur. Lakshmi subsequently called her family members, following which a clash erupted between the two sides, he said.
Sudha Yadav, her husband Sudha Shankar Yadav (48), and their son and daughters sustained injuries in the assault. Sudha was taken to the district hospital, where she died around 1pm.
Police have taken the accused into custody for questioning, the CO said.
