Salman walks free: Ravindra Patil's mother still hopeful of justice

ldquoIt is only the court of man that has denied us justice today We may get justice in the court of the almighty someday and we shall witness itrdquo says Sushilabai 70 grieving mother of the dismissed late police constable Ravindra Patil who was the former bodyguard of actor Salman KhanRavindra Patilrsquos mother Sushilabai 70 with her grandchildren Mansi Patil 19 who is pursuing her diploma in computer engineering and her brother Prashant Patil 17 a Std XI student PicManesh MasoleKhan was acquitted on Thursday in the 2002 hitandrun case in which one person Nurullah Mehboob Sharif was killed and four others were injured ldquoWe lost our source of livelihoodrdquo said Sushilabai ldquoWhat did we really get Around Rs 10500 which was Ravindrarsquos Provident Fund money The police force dismissed him from service and did not bother about my son or his familyrdquo she says wiping her tearsRavindra PatilSpeaking to midday from their Mahindale Sakri Road residence in Dhule Virendra Patil 48 elder brother of Ravindra who works as a hawaldar with the State Reserve Police Force Dhule said ldquoI came home for lunch on Thursday and was shocked at the verdict after watching the news on TV Our mother who was glued to television could not control her tears and I switched off the TV immediately and moaned the luck of the poor whom justice gives the gobyrdquomidday archives Graver charges against Salman Khan a blessing in disguiseSushilabai added ldquoNyay fakta shrimantana miltho garib lokana nyay milat nahi Justice is only for the rich and the poor never get justice Had my son Ravindra not been on duty that night and had the accident not happened he would have been alive today The accident claimed two lives mdash the worker Nurullah and my son and both families have been deprived of justice todayrdquoldquoThough he Ravindra died of tuberculosis he was fit and fine till the case and his health started going on a downward spiral after the Salman Khan incident and during the case My mother believed it was Salman Khan and the stress of the case that led him to become heavily dependent on alcohol thereafter leading to deterioration of my brotherrsquos health and subsequently his deathrdquo said VirendraHe recalled that his brother was stressed out because of the case that he kept changing his mobile phone numbers At times even his family could not get in touch with him for months ldquoRavindra feared for his life even when he was admitted to Dhule civil hospital under the local doctorrsquos care We were shocked to learn that he had pulmonary tuberculosis and he finally died a lonely death at the municipal tuberculosis hospital in Sewrirdquo said VirendraldquoMy son is a martyr for me he was not a hypocrite He stood by his statement till the end and the entire country heard itrdquo said Sushilabai Interestingly Kailash Patil Ravindrarsquos second elder brother is also a police constable attached to the Mumbai police he had deposed in the Sessions court during the trialBan on SalmanThe Patils have banned all Salman Khan movies and television programmes at home since the day of the accident ldquoWe and other residences in our locality do not watch any Salman Khan movies or television programs we are annoyed and hurtrdquo said VirendraldquoTodayrsquos judgment has only proven that a famous and influential celebrity can go to any extent to prove himself innocent Had Ravindra Patil been alive today things would have been differentrdquo said a close friend of Ravindra Patil who is attached to the Mumbai police requesting anonymityLoan clearanceRavindra had taken an emergency loan of Rs 70000 on July 10 2004 and another personal loan of Rs 34300 on September 29 2007 from the Police Cooperative Credit Society Naigaon Police Headquarters As per the records he had cleared only Rs 59013 and still owed Rs 45287 to the Cooperative Credit Society which was later cleared by other constablesAn elected representative of the credit society said ldquoSoon after Patilrsquos demise his entire balance loan amount was waived off using the funds from the lsquoganga jaalirsquo account where memberconstables contribute R50 towards the said account and the fund is used to clear such bad debts when a constable dies before clearing his loan accountrdquo