Mother of Hauz Khas rape accused: I’ll ensure that he doesn’t influence others

Mother of Hauz Khas rape accused says she had kicked Raja out of the house five months back for bringing trouble to the family, says he was a bad boy but never troubled girls.

From arranging money to enable her son to start a small business, to beating him up for keeping “bad company”, Angoori Devi did all within her means to keep her 20-year-old son Raja away from petty crimes and frequent quarrels.

The accused in the Hauz Khas rape case taken to a court in Saket in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)

But when Raja continued bringing trouble to the family, Devi decided she had had enough of him. Around five months ago, she kicked him out of her humble house in Dhobi Mohalla of South Delhi’s Arjun Nagar, warning him to return only after he had mended his ways.

“He would fight with my husband and me when we corrected him. I thought he would be ashamed of his behaviour if he was thrown out of the house. But I would not have sent him away had I known it would land him jail one day,” Devi told HT on Tuesday, hours after Raja was arrested for allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman inside the Deer Park in the early hours of Sunday.

Angoori Devi, the mother of the accused, says she was not surprised when a police team visited her on Monday to enquire about her son. (HT Photo)

The frail woman is now determined to ensure that her four younger children do not drop out of school or fall in bad company. “I don’t know when will Raja be released from jail. But if I am alive when he comes out, I will ensure he does not influence my younger children,” Devi said.

Working as a maid in some bungalows in the area, Devi has two other sons and daughters younger than Raja. These children who are aged between eight and 13 years and are unaware of the developments have two older sisters who are married. Her husband works as a vegetable vendor.

Devi was not surprised when a police team visited her on Monday to enquire about her son. Raja would frequently get picked up by the local police for questioning as he was seen as a petty thief in the area. “I did not know why police were looking for my son this time, but I told them that he does not live here anymore and does not listen to me,” she said.

Despite acknowledging that her son — who had tattooed his nickname ‘Jundal’ on his arm — was into drugs and committed thefts, the woman refused to believe that Raja allegedly committed a rape. “He was a bad boy, but he never troubled girls,” she reasoned.

She now wants to meet her son once and ask him if he really did what police accuse him of. “I do not know where Tihar Jail is located in Delhi. I will ask my husband to hire an auto and take me to him once,” she said.

Meanwhile, locals accused Raja of being a troublemaker. Kartik Bariya, a local youth, who has known Raja’s family for years said: “He would steal and get caught most of the times. People in the locality would not let him enter their houses as he would even steal their footwear,” alleged Bariya.

Arjun, another local youth, alleged that Raja would indulge in violent quarrels and would carry a knife with him always. “Only a few months ago, he pulled out a knife during an argument with someone, but accidentally ended up hurting himself,” Arjun said.

Both police and locals confirmed that he was never arrested.