Delhi HC gives braveheart her due, CRPF a rap

When Rukhsana Kausar gunned down a top Lashkar militant who had barged into her home in Jammu on September 27, her brave deed was acknowledged and feted.

When Rukhsana Kausar gunned down a top Lashkar militant who had barged into her home in Jammu on September 27, her brave deed was acknowledged and feted.

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But 42-year-old Jayanti Parihar, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) head constable, didn’t have the Jammu girl’s fortune.

She waged a battle for justice, but didn’t live to see it won.

On January 16, 2001, Parihar, three months pregnant, took on six terrorists who attacked the Srinagar airport. She suffered serious injuries and lost the baby.

The CPPF recommended her for gallantry award, but the defence ministry shot it down.

Parihar, who hailed from Uttaranchal, was put under ‘low medical category’ because of her injuries and denied promotions.

She moved the Delhi High Court on May 12,2009.

On Friday, she got justice, but three months too late. On August 20, she succumbed to complications arising out of the injuries. Her lawyer, Rekha Palli, assisted by Parihar’s husband Harish Singh, however, fought on.

The court, wondering if the women in uniform who took on terrorists were to go unsung, told the CRPF to give Parihar’s family the benfits of her promotions, due since 1998, and all that comes with them.

An angry bench, headed by Justice Pradeep Nandarajog, imposed a cost of Rs 11,000 on the CRPF for making a “brave lady who was instrumental in averting a major casualty… suffer for so long”.