Mother of constable killed in an assault dies of heartbreak
The moment Vilas Shinde’s last rites were completed on the 13th day after he died of injuries inflicted by two traffic offenders, 75-year-old Kalavati suffered a stroke.
It’s as though she had timed her heart to keep beating till she saw her son’s last rites through to the very end before giving up on the world.
On Monday, the thirteenth day after traffic head constable Vilas Shinde succumbed to the head injuries sustained in an attack by two traffic violators, the cop’s 75-year-old mother Kalavati suffered a stroke around 11am, soon after his last-day rituals had been completed.
The last Mirror visited the family’s village Shirgaon in Satara district — a week after the 51-year-old cop died on August 31— Kalavati hadn’t got out of bed for days. The family said she had slid into a traumatic state ever since she heard the news that rendered her immobile and uncommunicative.
Shinde’s son Deepesh told Mirror on Monday that his grandmother, who had “stopped walking, talking and eating over 10 days ago”, died of a heart attack. “Her condition was critical since Sunday, and doctors and nurses had been called home,” Deepesh said. “She was extremely distressed with my father’s loss.”
On August 23, Shinde had stopped a minor who rode into a petrol pump in Khar without a helmet, driving licence or the two-wheeler’s documents. When the cop questioned him, the minor called up his elder brother, who arrived at the spot and bludgeoned Shinde on his head with a wooden staff before fleeing.
While the two youths were arrested within 24 hours, Shinde passed away on August 31, after eight days of being comatose at Lilavati Hospital in Bandra.
As news channels aired the incident — which sparked widespread outrage in the wake of a rash of atrocities against cops — on a loop, villagers in Shirgaon cut off cable lines to their TV sets to protect the ailing mother from the news.
“She had already been keeping ill because of her advanced years. The villagers knew she was not going to take the news well,” Shinde’s uncle Suresh said, adding that the cop’s parents were informed about his death 10 minutes before the body arrived at Shirgaon on September 1.
The death of her only son was hard on her, says her daughter Lata. “She used to sit up before, but after the news, she hadn’t got up out of her bed. She hadn’t eaten either,” Lata said.
Shinde had last visited his village on August 14, some 10 days before he was attacked in Mumbai. “He was the sole breadwinner, and the backbone of the entire family. He took good care of our mother who had been extremely ill lately,” Lata said.
Deepesh said Kalavati’s 89-year-old husband, Vitthal, was holding up relatively well, having lost his son and wife within a fortnight.
RECOMPENSE FOR THE FAMILY
THE government on Monday sanctioned compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh for the families of two Mumbai police constables — including Vilas Shinde — who died in assaults while on duty. In addition, the families will also receive benefits the constables would have drawn till their retirement.
The aid was sanctioned after Mumbai police commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar recommended that the compensation be tantamount to 20 times the constables’ salaries, or Rs 1.5 lakh.
It’s as though she had timed her heart to keep beating till she saw her son’s last rites through to the very end before giving up on the world.
On Monday, the thirteenth day after traffic head constable Vilas Shinde succumbed to the head injuries sustained in an attack by two traffic violators, the cop’s 75-year-old mother Kalavati suffered a stroke around 11am, soon after his last-day rituals had been completed.
She was cremated the same evening, leaving the family to grieve, all over again, for another of their loved one.
The last Mirror visited the family’s village Shirgaon in Satara district — a week after the 51-year-old cop died on August 31— Kalavati hadn’t got out of bed for days. The family said she had slid into a traumatic state ever since she heard the news that rendered her immobile and uncommunicative.
Shinde’s son Deepesh told Mirror on Monday that his grandmother, who had “stopped walking, talking and eating over 10 days ago”, died of a heart attack. “Her condition was critical since Sunday, and doctors and nurses had been called home,” Deepesh said. “She was extremely distressed with my father’s loss.”
On August 23, Shinde had stopped a minor who rode into a petrol pump in Khar without a helmet, driving licence or the two-wheeler’s documents. When the cop questioned him, the minor called up his elder brother, who arrived at the spot and bludgeoned Shinde on his head with a wooden staff before fleeing.
While the two youths were arrested within 24 hours, Shinde passed away on August 31, after eight days of being comatose at Lilavati Hospital in Bandra.
As news channels aired the incident — which sparked widespread outrage in the wake of a rash of atrocities against cops — on a loop, villagers in Shirgaon cut off cable lines to their TV sets to protect the ailing mother from the news.
“She had already been keeping ill because of her advanced years. The villagers knew she was not going to take the news well,” Shinde’s uncle Suresh said, adding that the cop’s parents were informed about his death 10 minutes before the body arrived at Shirgaon on September 1.
The death of her only son was hard on her, says her daughter Lata. “She used to sit up before, but after the news, she hadn’t got up out of her bed. She hadn’t eaten either,” Lata said.
Shinde had last visited his village on August 14, some 10 days before he was attacked in Mumbai. “He was the sole breadwinner, and the backbone of the entire family. He took good care of our mother who had been extremely ill lately,” Lata said.
Deepesh said Kalavati’s 89-year-old husband, Vitthal, was holding up relatively well, having lost his son and wife within a fortnight.
RECOMPENSE FOR THE FAMILY
THE government on Monday sanctioned compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh for the families of two Mumbai police constables — including Vilas Shinde — who died in assaults while on duty. In addition, the families will also receive benefits the constables would have drawn till their retirement.
The aid was sanctioned after Mumbai police commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar recommended that the compensation be tantamount to 20 times the constables’ salaries, or Rs 1.5 lakh.
