For the Shindes of Somatane Phate, living on the outskirts of Pune city in Talegaon Dabhade, the brute euphoria of the revelry accompanying Ganesha festivities turned deadly.
Already in deep mourning following the loss of a young family member even before the Ganesha festival began, their gloom was compounded after several members of the Shinde family, including two senior citizens, were mercilessly assaulted on the night of September 25.
Their ‘crime’ was to request members of a Ganesh pandal to lower the blaring DJ music emanating from speakers during the immersion procession.
The 65-year-old Sadashiv Shinde, who was beaten in the head by rods and bamboo sticks, says that on September 17, his relative, 16-year-old Aryan Shinde had died tragically in a rail accident.
A banner with Aryan’s photo had been put up by the Shinde family outside Shinde vasti to alert locals about the tenth day ritual scheduled to be held on September 26.
“We were already reeling from this shock two days before the Ganeshotsav festivities commenced on September 19. We were preparing for the ‘dashakriya’ (tenth day rituals) for the departed boy when an immersion procession in the neighbouring passed by our house. Their jarring music was extremely disturbing and interfered with the preparation of the rituals. So, we politely requested them to lower their volume,” says a dazed Sadashiv Shinde.
A little after 11:30 p.m. that day, after the procession members returned from the immersion, a mob of more than 50 persons gathered round Sadashiv’s two-storey bungalow, armed with bamboo sticks, rods and even machetes.
According to Sadashiv’s wife Surekha (55), the mob first attacked and badly injured another relative, Sunil Shinde who lived a few yards away from their residence.
“A bleeding Sunil came frantically running towards us, knocking our door, crying out loud to save him from the fury of the mob. By the time my husband and myself had opened the door to help Sunil, the mob was upon us, beating us rods and sticks with scant regard for our age,” says a shocked Surekha.
On hearing loud noises, their son, Ganesh Shinde, who lived on the second floor, came rushing down to protect his parents from the wild fury of the mob.
“By the time Ganesh reached the scene, my parents were already lying unconscious. They pounced on Ganesh and ruthlessly began beating him,” says Shri Shinde, Sadashiv’s second son and Ganesh Shinde’s younger brother.
According to Shri, the assault lasted less than five minutes. By the time the assailants fled the scene, Sadashiv Shinde, Surekha and Ganesh were lying in a pool of flood.
The Shindes’ family driver Janmaraj Kamble, was badly injured in the scuffle with his nose smashed, as was Sunil Shinde (Ganesh Shinde’s cousin) who was the first victim of the mob. Sunil’s friend Kiran Yeole, too, suffered grievous injuries.
“Had the assailants entered the house, they would have vandalised it. Fortunately, I prevented them from barging in. As it is, they managed to smash an SUV which was parked outside,” says Shri Shinde.
The injured were rushed to a local hospital. While all of them were discharged within a few days, Ganesh Shinde, who has had 28 stitches on him, is still undergoing treatment.
“The doctors say he will need at least a month to get back to normalcy. His head wounds could have been fatal. He survived by a whisker. We do not wish to be photographed or demand publicity. But we do demand that the authorities and the government take this very seriously and ensure this nightmare does not befall any law-abiding citizen in future,” says his brother Shri.
For more than 60 years, the Shinde family has been residing on this plot of land, tucked away in a verdant corner along the old Mumbai-Pune highway.
This is the first they have encountered or witnessed such violence, and that too during an occasion considered as among the most joyous and auspicious in the State, and celebrated with particular fervour in Maharashtra.
“Will this be the future of Ganesha celebrations in Pune and Maharashtra henceforth? Don’t law-abiding citizens have any voice anymore? Can’t celebrations be held with some decorum and sensitivity to others’ problems?” asks Sadashiv Shinde.
Soon after the incident, the Talegaon police have arrested 22 people — all residents of Shinde vasti — under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.
They were produced before the court and have sent to police custody till October 1.
According to a senior police officer, the authorities are still probing whether the furious assault was provoked by the request to lower the volume during the Ganesha immersion or the outcome of some past quarrel.
