Don't want charity, says martyr's kin

The Ombale family is going through their share of hardships, but their resolve to not accept financial aid remains unchanged.

The Ombale family is going through their share of hardships, but their resolve to not accept financial aid remains unchanged.

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Assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Ombale was killed while nabbing terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab on November 26, 2008. "Any aid that we accept is given away as charity to the needy," said Vaishali, Ombale's 24-year-old daughter.

Vaishali, who is doing MEd from a Mumbai-based institute, said: "Of the many financial aids that came to us, we accepted only a few. We gave the money to people in our hometown, especially to children who could not afford education."

Ombale is survived by his four daughters, of which two are married. Vaishali and her younger sister, who is doing MCom, stay with their mother in Worli.

The family is surviving on the pension they receive from the government. "This money belongs to my father, it is his. Anything other than that is given to us as charity," said Vaishali.

Although the government is still to fulfill its promise of giving them a gas station in Borivli, the family has not spoken a word about it. "We don't need money. We are doing quite well with what we receive as my father's pension. I have asked the people who want to help us financially to give that money to the needy," claimed Vaishali.

The family recently completed the registration formality of Shahid Tukaram Ombale Charitable Trust, which will help educate underprivileged children.