BAGALKOT: A day after Rajma Bismilla, the wife of one of the injured in the recent Kerur violence, threw away the Rs 2 lakh compensation given by Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, the former stuck to her stand on Saturday saying she and the affected only want justice. On Friday, Siddaramaiah, who represents Badami in the Assembly, had met the injured from both the groups. He handed over a compensation of Rs 50,000 each to four families.
However, Rajma turned down the money and threw it at his convoy. After the incident, Siddaramaiah made another attempt to convince the woman and the other families to accept the compensation given from his own pocket on humanitarian grounds. The affected families refused once again to accept the money and instead demanded justice. Speaking to reporters, Rajma, wife of the injured dhaba owner, said “We don’t want the compensation.
We know how to run our families. Our priority is peace between both the groups and justice to the families.” “We refused to take the compensation when the supporters of Siddaramaiah tried to convince us. We have returned them all the money. We are not expecting compensation either from the government or politicians,” she added. Meanwhile, the family members of another injured accepted the compensation after much persuasion.
Arun Kattimani, district secretary of Hindu Jagaran Vedike, who was stabbed in the violence, demanded the police to arrest the main accused. “We had no intention of meeting Siddaramaiah. We demanded that the police first arrest the main accused and provide clarity on justice to the victims from the Badami MLA. They failed to deliver on the promise. So, we refused to meet Siddaramaiah. All we want is justice,” said Kattimani.