Witness to Udaipur tailor’s beheading bedridden after brain haemorrhage in Oct

Rajkumar Sharma, 50, hoped to get over the trauma of seeing his employer Kanhaiya Lal’s beheading in Rajasthan’s Udaipur in June as he took up a new job in October. He was at work on the fourth day of the job when he collapsed. Sharma was rushed to a hospital, where doctors said he suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Sharma, the sole breadwinner for his family, has since been paralysed. His wife, Pushpa, said they have been finding it difficult to make ends meet. She blamed the trauma of seeing Lal, a tailor, getting brutally killed, for his condition.

Pushpa said the ₹six lakh compensation they got was spent on repaying debts and making arrangements for their daughter’s wedding, which was scheduled in December but was postponed because of the condition they are in. “Whatever money we got was used to pay for his medical treatment and the earlier debt because of my illness in 2021 and loan for buying a home. ....The debt was close to ₹7 lakh,” she said.

She said Sharma has been bedridden for three months. “Even our relatives are not taking calls as they know we will ask for money,” she said. She added their son and daughter earn ₹12,000 per month and that is their only source of income.

Pushpa said their debts have been increasing because of Sharma’s expensive treatment.

Sharma broke down when asked about the beheading. “It was 3pm when they both [attackers] came in and inquired about some clothes. I asked them to speak to master sahib [Lal], who said it will take two to three days. He started taking measurements...Suddenly, we heard cries...I saw them hitting him [Lal].”

He said Mohammad Riyaz Akhtari and Gosh Mohammad, the attackers, later attacked another person. “I was saved because the shutter of our shop came in between when they tried to hit me.”

Sharma said the incident is fresh in his mind and he gets nightmares whenever he tries to sleep. He trembled as he said the beheading continued to haunt him. Sharma said his mind flashes back to the day when Lal was killed. “Whenever I close my eyes to sleep, I see the two [attackers] beheading master saheb [Lal],” he said.

Pushpa said half of Sharma’s body has been paralysed since October. “We cannot leave him alone as he starts weeping, thinking of what happened that day…the trauma has not faded away and keeps haunting him,” said Pushpa.

The family stays in a two-room house in Udaipur under around-the-clock police protection.

Dr Gaurav Jaiswal, who has been treating Sharma at Udaipur’s MB Hospital, said the incident cannot be directly attributed to his condition. “But stress can lead to hypertension and that can lead to brain hemorrhage.” He added Sharma was operated upon as a clot was spotted on his brain’s right side. Jaiswal said Sharma will undergo another surgery on January 17.

Udaipur collector Tarachand Meena said Sharma got ₹five lakh from the Chief Minister Relief fund and ₹1 lakh from his salary. He added the administration arranged private jobs for his two children and Sharma.

Meena said a special team of doctors treated Sharma and the government bore all his medical expenses. “We are extending all possible help to his family,” Meena said.

Udaipur police superintendent Vikas Sharma said Sharma is very important for the outcome of the case as the only eyewitness. “We are trying our best to ensure that he gets well soon.”

Sharma was described as a star witness, or someone who provides crucial information in a criminal case, in the National Investigation Agency’s charge sheet filed in the case in December. Pakistan-based fundamentalist groups have been among those named in the charge sheet.