After losing a brave 72 hour battle with his internal wounds, the 15 year old student from Udaipur finally succumbed to his injuries and was taken on his final journey in the early hours on 20 August.

His funeral procession began early morning from his residence at Mukherjee Chowk and proceeeded via Surajpol, Delhi Gate, Court Chauraha to the Moksh Dham (Crematorium) at Ashok Nagar. The entire procession was peaceful and under tight security. The mourning participants chanted slogans and prayed for the departed soul. Apart from the administrative heads of the city, local political leaders, the city and rural MLAs and Udaipur MP were also present in the funeral procession.

The city was tense over the last 5 days, beginning 16 August when the stabbing incident took place at a government school in Bhatiyani Chohatta, an area in the walled city section of Udaipur and sensitive to communal violence. The deceased, a 15 yr old was stabbed over an argument, allegedly by his 16 yr old classmate. The accused has been in custody since then.

City limping back to normal

The residents of Udaipur, barring a few incidents of rioting, vandalism, arson and stone pelting on the first day by miscreants, have been primarily submissive to the requests of the heads of administration in Udaipur and community leaders. On 20 August, once the cremation of the young boy took place, the markets slowly opened to a welcome sunny morning, vehicles began to be seen in the roads in a typical mid week rush and people began to go around their daily tasks.

The people of Udaipur, deeply saddened by the incident, hold firmly to their roots of social harmony and peace and are praying that such an incident never happens again. That Udaipur maintain its communal brotherhood as has been the case for decades. It is clear that communal harmony and brotherhood is embedded deep into the psych of the people of Udaipur, and it is just a handful of miscreants who create terror on the streets, that results in loss of property both public and private as well as injury and/or loss of life during such intermittent rioting.

It is to the credit of the city administration, viz. Divisional Commissioner Rajendra Bhatt, District Collector Arvind Poswal, IG Udaipur Ajay Pal Lamba and Police Superintendent of Udaipur, Yogesh Goyal who played an important role and went beyond the call of duty in maintaining peace, law and order in Udaipur.

Family of the Deceased

The father of the deceased has made a public request for fast tracking the case and has requested that no lawyer fight the case for the accused, Ayan.

Earlier on 19 August, after the hospital authorities announced the demise of the wounded sudent, the family made their demands to the administration and government, before taking over the body of the deceased. Among the demands that the administration agreed on, was security for the family, fast tracking the case and compensation of Rs 51 lakh to the victims family. The family also demanded a Government job to one member of the family, the request for which has been sent to the relevant authorities in the state government in Jaipur, said Udaipur City MLA Tarachand Jain.