Time now to attack!
Let’s give this a crack!
Time to take the streets back!
Time now to attack!
Take a lesson, learn that knack!
You were hacked, now hack back!
Claim your life, take it back!
Time now to attack!
Let’s give this a crack!
Face the wounds deep in your soul!
In the new Mahabharata
On your feet, let's roll!
Let's join hands, let's fire up brands!
Name me!
Shame me!
Defame me!
But I’ll play this game, me!
They can lock your bodies up!
What can they do to your tongues?
Reach out, eclipse the sun!
Bring night down on everyone!
Time now to attack!
Let's give this a crack!
Our babies waste away The police look away
We just can’t get away! The media has its day!
Who built these bars?
Vultures who chewed our hearts
Don’t wait for a messiah
Let your words carry fire
Get close to the vulture
Borrow tools from his culture
Learn from the humble ant
Who can fell the elephant
My legs walk on their own
The road urges me on, on!
They threw away the key
Now how come I’m free?
Take chili powder, grab it, dare
Ignore their shaming stare
Keep your eye on the goal
Step away from the common fold
Ask the question, wild and bold
That will uproot the macho world
Eye on the goal, focus your soul
Come now fight fire with fire
Get in our way? You risk our ire
I've been sliced and diced and fried
I'm the walking dead, I'm burnt inside
I've kept the lava tamed inside
It's bursting now, step aside
All my head, entire all
My head was consumed by sorrow's fire
The drum-drum-drumming in my head Scream all you want, now you're dead
Rise up now and cast him down Sharpen your nails and blast him down
Listen, listen, as we go!
Hear our cry, hear our roar! Beat those plowshares into swords!
We’re done with words, words, words!
Tab him Grab him
Nab him Stab him
Now your life is on the line Grab it, claim it, mine, mine
Watch out, we're nemesis!
Time now to attack!
Time to take our lives back!
Not one tear will be lost.
We'll make them count the cost.
With our rage, break this cage.
In such an hour,
we ourselves will shame us.
Time now to attack.
That which happened. That which was seen.
That which was heard. That which was said.
All of it wrong. All correct.
A mob of about 50 people stormed into Nagpur District Court
and attacked criminal Akku Yadav who was brought there for trial.
The mob broke this door, barged in,
entered Court Room 7 and beat him to death.
This broken door
is a mute witness to the killing inside Nagpur's main court.
Where Bharat alias Akku Yadav, a local criminal,
was stabbed and stoned to death today,
minutes before he was to be produced in front of a public magistrate.
A mob of 40 to 50 people armed with deadly weapons,
attacked and murdered him on the spot.
The turn of events is as unprecedented
as the crime itself.
All this happened so quickly
that police and court officials became hapless bystanders.
This has put security arrangements under the scanner once again.
Surprisingly, the police haven't made any arrests yet
as the crowd vanished almost immediately.
Today, the 13th of August…
-English, Hindi? Hindi. -Hindi.
We are looking for the killers.
They fled in an auto-rickshaw.
The police were told the number of the vehicle.
We have brought the driver in and are questioning him.
The driver told them that about four to five women got in at the court…
they got off at Kasturba Nagar, and they were saying
they had murdered someone in the court.
Then the police came scurrying
to Kasturba Nagar.
At least five to six police vehicles rolled up.
Our area went dead silent.
The police came to arrest me at my workplace.
They grabbed my hand while taking me out.
I said, "Let go of my hand. I’m coming with you."
They sneered, "You think you’re Indira Gandhi?"
"You’re a murderer!"
I said, "As you say but why grab my hand, I’ll come quietly."
The women came, calling me "Bhagan! Bhagan!"
I said, "Shut up, cowards! Don’t waste my time."
They insisted, "Please listen, listen…
We killed Akku Yadav."
They swore on me.
I exclaimed, "What nonsense!"
"No, we really killed him."
I said, "Four women are in the lockup. What happens to them?"
I said, "Let's go."
From Bhim Chowk, we took an auto-rickshaw
and went straight to Sadar Police Station.
It was full of people.
It was swarming with women.
All the women said, "All of us killed him.
Why arrest only those five?"
-All the women were ready to surrender. -All the women were ready to surrender.
We told them to arrest all of us at one go.
Why didn’t they do that?
They tried bargaining with us.
The police made us an offer.
"Give us any five women."
"Any five old women."
The police tried to save their skin saying,
"Give us someone, anyone to arrest."
What did they think? We were running a shop?
That you can randomly demand two to three women to arrest?
We weren’t running a shop!
But many mothers felt,
"We should be arrested instead of our daughters.
Our lives don't matter that much."
This exchange actually happened!
As the saying goes,
"Thus far and no further."
Then comes a moment,
when the victims stop fearing death.
Kasturba Nagar’s residents formed a kangaroo court
and sealed Akku’s fate in minutes.
Yes, Akku will never return.
I enjoyed a good mutton feast over his death.
When my mother-in-law told me…
When we learned about it, we were very happy.
-Everyone was happy! -Very happy!
-We had a party! -We were delighted!
Good, he died!
My husband didn't have any money, so he came walking
all the way home to tell us,
"It’s great. We are free. No tension now."
That day, I bought two kilos of mutton.
How I cooked it!
I shared it with my mother,
we ate our fill, and sent some to my landlord as well.
People mourn with curd-rice at a death, I ate mutton!
Akku Yadav… He was my friend.
We chant, "God’s name is truth."
And death is the ultimate truth.
That’s why we say it.
He was buried because he was unmarried.
Unmarried men are buried.
Akku's real name was Bharat…
Bharat Kalicharan Yadav.
When Akku was young, there was a milkman, Babban.
He worked at their house, milking cows.
Babban would tease him, calling him, "Aaku-Aaku."
Aaku-Aaku became Akku.
When he was young,
he would take his cattle to the river.
Every morning at nine,
he would take his cattle to graze.
We were friends, he was from a well-off family.
As in, he got to eat regularly. I didn’t.
He played with my kids when they were all young.
Tipcat, marbles.
Each finger was so thick.
Our fingers are thin, his were thick.
Milking cows had made his hands strong.
His forearms and thighs were equally broad.
-He was fair-skinned. -And nice and tall.
-With a sharp nose. -Straight as a blade.
-He had sunken eyes. -His voice…
-He had a deep voice. -Powerful voice.
-He was full of bravado. -He would stand up and say,
"Hey, what’re you up to?"
-He would eagerly dance to film songs. -That's how he behaved.
Even as teenagers,
we would steal and gamble,
and horse around.
That was our daily routine.
Akku was an excellent swimmer.
He taught me to swim.
Jumping in was fine. But coming out?
My arms wouldn't reach.
You had to find hand-holds.
Then, Akku would give me a hand.
When I think back to those days,
I feel none of this should have happened.
STABBED 73 TIMES
KASTURBA NAGAR SEALED OFF
WITNESS BOX BECOMES THE WITNESS
ONE PREGNANT AMONG THE ARRESTED WOMEN
After the news broke,
people scrambled to contact Kasturba Nagar.
There were social workers and some do-gooders from nearby.
They began to ask questions
and the news spread like wildfire.
People from the metros landed in Nagpur
and the cameras began to roll.
Women and children snatched justice at Nagpur District Court.
Bypassing legitimate ways,
why did women take the law into their own hands?
The killers apparently are women from the surrounding areas.
Women here are openly confessing to the crimes, saying,
"Akku had abducted and raped women in this locality."
He had terrorized everyone for ten years.
He would not only beat men but also rape women.
All the news channels came to interview me.
And the reporters kept asking, "How do you feel?" I said, "Great!"
As we walk into Nagpur's Kasturba Nagar signs of the locality's newfound fame,
a foreign media crew is here to record the testimonies of its women.
The women of the slum, who lived in fear of Yadav
are Dalits, the poorest of the poor, formerly known as Untouchables.
Many earn less than 50 cents a day working as servants.
The media fueled the fire.
Chasing ratings and readership.
They roared, "Give us Akku Yadav. We'll kill him!"
And so saying, they attacked and lynched him.
The name of the deceased was Bharat Kalicharan aka Akku Yadav.
Why did the women of Nagpur
feel the need to kill?
The law was doing nothing so we had to act.
We had no faith in the judiciary.
All the women together have killed him
because he…
If you think the women were right,
pick up your mobile phone and SMS YES.
If you think they were wrong, SMS NO.
Who creates Akku Yadav?
You have to ask this question. That's the fundamental thing.
He lived and was a part of that particular locality.
His social, economic…
and other characteristics were similar.
I was so sorry to hear about Bharat Kalicharan Yadav’s death.
His conduct in school was good.
He was regular in school and good at academics.
But after the 7th grade, he dropped out.
After that, what became of him, where he went, we have no idea.
It was a family of six brothers and six sisters.
All his brothers were goons.
Hardcore criminals.
His eldest brother, Lallu, was in the railways.
Lallu was also a criminal.
You may wonder, a government employee and a criminal?
But he was!
Things were fine when his father was alive.
When their father died,
they lost all their cattle and they were ruined.
After that, they even struggled for food.
They sold off their cattle to get the sisters married.
No one in their family was working.
No one would earn.
Akku was the youngest and unmarried.
He had no food and no future.
So what could he do?
So, he started to follow
in his elder brother's footsteps.
Akku and his friend burst into our house.
They came in and hunkered down next to my husband.
They signaled us to be quiet.
I teased him, "Police looking for you?"
They must have been gambling somewhere.
He asked me to check if the police were still there.
I checked and they were gone.
But what was also gone was a watch.
It was on the TV and at some point he pocketed it.
Won't I ask if my things go missing?
So I asked, "Brother,
when you two visited that day,
a watch was lying on the TV and has been missing ever since."
He roared, "Are you accusing me of stealing?"
My husband was outside and Akku gave him one tight slap.
I was fuming. I ached to do something.
So humiliating to see one's own husband beaten.
My husband is such a gentle soul
and for him to be beaten so badly?
I couldn’t bear it.
I didn’t know what to do to that bastard.
"How dare you?
How dare you accuse me of stealing?"
He slammed a glass jar down. It pierced his hand.
A huge gash.
His hand started bleeding.
I couldn't bear it.
He was wiping his blood on the walls.
I pleaded, "Please, don't stain the walls of my shop."
I dressed his wound with a cloth.
I bandaged his wound.
It was terrifying.
My father had stepped out to buy kerosene
-and Akku snatched the money. -He snatched it.
We had to go hungry.
No kerosene, no cooking.
We went hungry thanks to him.
He swallowed our fuel money.
He collected a whole lot of loose change and small coins
and gave them to me in a plastic bag.
He said, "Manish, I want to have a drink."
So he made me count the coins
and asked me to buy alcohol. I refused to go with those coins.
He would say,
"You’re earning, right? Give me 10,000 rupees."
That was his demand.
He would say, "Ask your rich employers for money."
The goods for my shop were stacked outside.
In broad daylight, he picked them up
and sold them off.
He robbed me of my livelihood.
He crippled me.
I was stunned.
For a few hours, I sat dazed under a tree.
I was lost.
I couldn't fathom… what was I?
Nothing? Or a fraction of nothing?
Back then, the WCL colony was under construction.
We went there to steal.
We chanced upon a couple there.
Everyone had different motives.
I just wanted to snatch their money.
But at that moment Akku went rogue.
Lust took over.
He tried to find some privacy.
Right at that moment, the boy broke free.
He ran off to Koradi Police Station.
The case was filed under Section 354 - molestation.
Up to that point, we were together
but after that destiny sent us down different paths.
CENTRAL JAIL, NAGPUR
Jail can either reform you
or ruin you.
One meets lots of people, lots of criminals.
Under their influence, Akku decided to become a criminal
and indeed, he became one.
He went to jail for theft…
and hooliganism.
There he met many hardcore criminals
and they started visiting our area.
Akku knew how to treat a guest.
A full-service offering.
You know how people offer a guest, tea, cold drinks?
In our line of work,
we offer cannabis, alcohol, mutton…
He would demand meat.
Nobody could refuse him.
Then they would have a feast, get drunk, and crash at the host’s house.
Akku would tell the police what was going on,
who was doing what, and where.
He was an informant.
He would get others drunk but stay alert.
He was sharp, observant.
He could read people at a glance.
You saw him and you started shivering.
You know how we’d signal each other?
"Hey! He’s coming, hide!"
-"Go!" -We would inform each other.
We would never utter his name.
Our code name for him was "Madam."
"Motherfucker! How dare you call me Madam?"
"Sisterfucker! Come here." Such was his tone.
He would cuss out our mothers and sisters.
All women were bastards and motherfuckers for him.
Only our husbands have the right to abuse us like that
But we had to take it from him
because we feared for our lives.
We would pee in a pot at home rather than go out.
We couldn't step out for fear of him.
He wanted the whole area to be silent.
No cooking, no stepping out.
He would bang on and break our doors.
He would barge into our houses.
These were daily ordeals.
My daughter-in-law came running, panting.
She said, "He’s ransacking someone's house.
My heart is pounding."
She was so terrified of him that she lost her unborn child.
A poor old man from our area had died.
There was a narrow lane nearby
The funeral had to pass through that lane
but Akku and his gang were gambling there.
The body was ready for its last journey but they had to wait for over an hour
till Akku and company finished their game.
Only then could the funeral pass.
During that period,
there were no celebrations and no weddings.
No vendors, no sellers, no auto drivers would come here.
It was like a lockdown.
As if a curfew had been imposed.
-The clock strikes six… -At 6 p.m.!
He unzipped his jacket.
It had many pockets inside.
They were loaded with pistols, knives, and other weapons.
He flaunted them at me, "Mother, have a look!"
I said, "Son, I have been dead a long time."
I came from a village to this city.
This atmosphere, this dance of death, I saw it all and still, I fought through.
But slowly, my heart turned to stone.
Now I have become tough as rock.
I was passing Indora Chowki with a friend
and I spotted a moped near the police station.
Akku had one foot resting on the scooter
looking towards Jaswant Talkies.
I told my friend,
"Come, I'll introduce you to another friend."
I said, "Munnabhai, this is Akku Yadav, a gangster."
Akku nodded and reached into his pocket,
pulled out a knife, and opened it.
With Indora Police Station behind us,
Akku had the guts to flash a knife
and jab it into the scooter's seat.
He said, "Yes, I am Akku Yadav, a gangster."
My friend said, "You have a knife?"
He retorted, "What else should I have? A pen?
I'm a gangster.
Obviously, I’ll carry a knife."
Knives, glass pieces and stones were used to brutally kill him.
As many as 50 women attacked him using knives and stones.
Five women, recognized by eyewitnesses, are behind bars.
But more and more women are coming forward
claiming they too were part of the mob.
"WOMEN'S COMMISSION DEMANDS RELEASE ON GROUNDS OF SELF-DEFENSE"
AKKU YADAV LYNCHING CASE: SPARKS INDEFINITE PROTESTS
This is a different kind of struggle.
Either we are all in or all out.
We won’t back down until the five women are released.
The police were clueless.
They kept asking,
"Do you have permission to protest?"
In return, I asked the police,
"Had Akku Yadav taken permission when he raped?"
We held a silent protest, black cloth over our mouths,
condemning the police and the administration.
We said, "You failed to protect us
and when we did it ourselves
you’re harassing us."
I had also declared that on the 15th of August
we would not hoist the national flag.
Our people want to live simple, secure lives.
Come, let us work together
to revive the values of our freedom struggle.
15th of August is India’s Independence Day.
We too wanted freedom.
So we decided to revolt against this rapist.
And so one fine morning, 13th of August, in court, this!
This was historic because women did it.
The Maharashtra government, the police, the judiciary,
the women of Kasturba Nagar had no faith in them.
-We had no one on our side. -No one helped us.
Not even the police.
Only one person would help, Asha Bhagat.
She would support us.
-She would help us. -She would feed the poor.
She wasn't a bystander, she'd actually help.
She was like a deer.
She was short but swift like a deer.
She would rush to the rescue
and order Akku, "Stop it! Let them go!"
Akku was wary of her
because she would often threaten him,
"Motherfucker, better stop harassing the poor.
Or I’ll teach you a lesson."
She fought for the poor.
She was no less than a guardian angel for us.
Asha Bhagat sold alcohol.
Her usual customers were criminals.
Hardcore criminals.
Akku saw her as a competitor.
Slowly, the rivalry between Akku and Asha intensified.
Asha teamed up with other Marathi people
and planned Akku’s murder…
finish him off!
Akku had become very powerful by then.
No one dared to challenge him.
So they gained his trust, got him drunk,
and in that kerfuffle, they ambushed him.
Akku was terrified of dying.
They hit him on the head.
He tried to save himself and somehow managed to escape.
And then he just vanished.
They searched all night.
Then, Akku felt the Marathi people were a threat.
So he turned to the Hindi-speaking people.
One of whom was Avinash Tiwari.
Tiwari’s star was on the rise so Akku befriended him.
When Akku was attacked,
Avinash donated his blood and saved his friend's life.
Avinash was a nice guy.
He would talk to everyone.
Akku didn't like him being friendly with others.
Akku was possessive about Avinash.
"It’s either me or others," he would say.
But Avinash would visit Asha’s house as well.
Akku asked, "Why do you go to her house?"
Avinash said, "You’re a friend and so is she.
I’m friends with everyone."
They argued over this.
It was still only words…
Akku headed straight home
and came back with…
I was standing on the road
opposite Asha’s house.
Akku opened the knife with his teeth and stabbed Avinash.
One stab was all it took.
Asha was screaming from the other side.
"Bastard! You killed such a gem of a person!
He donated blood for you, he was your friend and you killed him!"
He was screaming back, "Shut your face."
"Go home. You’re next."
It began as a friendly quarrel.
Akku didn't think he would kill him.
He was sorry about it later.
He repented
because he killed an upper-caste man.
That was a no-no.
First, tea in the early morning.
Then, a glass of milk.
Soon after, breakfast was served followed by lunch.
People were always around to have fun.
Cards, games, always something to do.
Jail was like a hostel for us.
We would take snacks for him.
If he wanted to drink,
we would sneak in alcohol
by mixing it in his curry.
He’d have it and get high.
It was fun for him.
If a womb can't confine us, how can prison?
We got out, we always do.
If not today, then soon enough. For sure!
He murdered Avinash Tiwari in broad daylight
but he was released in ten months.
Out so soon?
We were stunned.
Then for a couple of years,
he warned people not to talk to Asha.
He kept an eye on her.
The war between them got worse.
It was a hot summer night.
The coolers were on.
Ashok’s house is next to Baban’s paan shop.
Akku and company were drinking at Baban’s from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
He bought cigarettes and tobacco plugs from my shop.
That day, he even paid for them!
He never paid otherwise but that day he chose to pay.
Yes, he paid 100 rupees.
I had no idea what was going to happen to her
or I would have warned her.
Her door was shut.
Her daughter was painting her hands…
She offered to do her mother’s hands.
When…
He asked for water saying he was her son’s friend.
She believed him.
They were hiding near the door, armed with weapons.
And then…
She begged them to let her mother go
but they didn't listen.
After the murder,
I asked them,
"How did you do it?"
He beheaded her and left her there.
They chopped off her ears, her nose.
They mutilated her breasts.
It was savage.
He murdered Asha, that poor soul!
We felt so bad.
He had completely disfigured her.
One day after the murder,
we were having snacks at a roadside stall
and a police van arrived.
Akku was in the van sitting at his ease.
The police took a whole lot of samosas.
Policemen never pay.
And we watched Akku relish those samosas.
He was in jail for 16 months
for Asha Bhagat’s murder.
I met Akku in jail.
He had a distinctive style.
He would stroll with his hands behind him.
He greeted me, "Rajubhai, how are you?"
I asked, "You’re still here?"
He replied, "Won’t a lion stroll in his own jungle?"
In court cases against Akku,
all the witnesses would accompany him
and we knew the verdict in advance.
That was because the witnesses would turn hostile.
So these cases were a cakewalk.
CENTRAL JAIL, NAGPUR
After he came out, he wreaked havoc in Kasturba Nagar.
He thought he'd done a big thing, killing a woman.
After that, it began…
It got too much.
All night a ruckus.
Nobody spared. A house of horror.
He terrorized all the women there.
Their souls were in torment,
their rage uncontrollable.
In court, that fury finally burst out.
My sister has been arrested.
Her child keeps asking, "Where is my mother?"
But we can't tell her that she is in jail.
I want my sister to come home.
Now the immediate worry is to secure the release of the five women
who have been arrested.
We will go on the 18th to surrender
and we will try to get them released.
We will be around 400 women.
The strength of unity will be on full display tomorrow
when these women surrender to the court en masse.
Nobody can deny the fact
that women participated in that crime.
But the question still remains.
Was it women who killed Akku in that courtroom?
Would these poor women, domestic workers carry weapons?
Was Akku never alone?
Did he never go to pee or poop?
Did he take a dump with his gang?
They could’ve killed him in his house.
Why in court?
Those who wanted to shame the system
made use of this incident to create rifts in society.
Those people manipulated the women to achieve this.
We dared them to arrest all 200 women.
But they failed to prove that women did not do it.
People write pulp fiction, don’t they?
It’s easy to write such tales.
But this is a different story.
Are women capable of killing?
Can the hands that cut vegetables, kill people?
I don't think so.
The post-mortem report cited horrible injuries.
Even his intestines had been ripped out.
Can women kill so brutally?
Some say men dressed as women
murdered Akku and escaped.
"We killed Akku!"
"We really killed him!"
"What are you blabbering? I don’t believe you!"
Nobody wants to believe that the oppressed, the Dalits,
or women could do this.
Those ladies didn't kill Akku.
Men could never have done this.
Truly, only women could have done this.
I call it a perfect murder
because the killers are right there before you.
Somebody killed him, right?
Seventy-five stab wounds, right in the middle of a courtroom,
and yet nobody knows who killed him and for what reason.
Subtitle translation by: Bharath VH