Jigeesha’s parents boycott poll

This March 20, Jagannath and Savita Ghosh not only lost their only daughter Jigeesha, but also their faith in the system.On Thursday, the elderly couple decided not to vote for a system, which was unable to protect their daughter from the hands of small-time car thief, reports Moushumi Das Gupta.

This March 20, Jagannath and Savita Ghosh not only lost their only daughter Jigeesha, but also their faith in the system.

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On Thursday, the elderly couple decided not to vote for a system, which was unable to protect their daughter from the hands of small-time car thief.

Jigeesha (28), an employee of Hewitt Associates and a resident of Vasant Vihar, was found murdered in Surajkund. Later, police arrested Ravi Kapoor a car thief and his accomplices who also allegedly killed television journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, for robbing and murdering her.

The Ghoshs’ single-handed efforts had helped the police get leads in the case and apprehend the accused. “What good is such governance which does not protect its citizens? For us voting is meaningless. A girl returning from office is kidnapped, robbed and killed and no one does anything about it. Was not it their duty to protect people like her?” asked mother Savita.

They had voted as responsible citizens all these years but have now decided never to vote. “I will not vote till I die,” she said. Jigeesha’s father Jagannath has not been able to come to terms with her death. “Yesterday when I was coming back from the market I saw a policeman a few metres away from where my daughter was kidnapped. Why wasn’t anyone there that night? I don’t think the government even cares about the middle-class. They just come before elections, beg for votes and vanish after it is over,” he said.
They have other reasons as well.

“Let alone security the government does not even provide us uninterrupted water supply,” Jagannath added. However, in contrast, Vishwanathan’s parents Madhavi and M.K. Vishwanathan exercised their right to vote. “My daughter’s death has nothing to do with me and my wife going to vote. I voted in the hope of seeing better people in power. I just want the government to provide better security to everyone,” the late journalist’s father said.