Parul, a 28-year-old Haryanvi folk singer, who gained fame for her songs dedicated to B.R. Ambedkar, documented her daily life as a singer and performer on Instagram Reels.
On May 11, in one of her last posts, she talked about going to a studio later during the day to record a song.
On May 22, the body of Parul, who had been missing for 12 days, was found buried near a highway in Haryana’s Rohtak district, two days after two men were arrested by the Delhi Police for allegedly kidnapping and murdering her. According to the police, one of the accused bore a “grudge” against the victim as she had sent him to prison on rape charges.
“Our entire family of eight depended on her. She used to keep telling me that she is doing everything possible to get her brother and sisters married and settled,” her father Gopal* said.
Pillar of support
Parul’s village lies a few kilometres beyond Najafgarh's last metro station, close to the Delhi-Haryana border.
Farmlands flank the first few kilometres of the village. Beyond the farms lie rows of houses. At the other end of the village lies the modest three-room rented accommodation where Parul lived with her family.
Her brother Varun* remembers his sister as being full of energy.
After her graduation, with a B.A. in Political Science from Delhi University, Parul took an active interest in politics. She started writing songs and poems on Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
Mr. Varun said that even during her college days, Parul would often sneak out to attend public meetings, and calls for protest issued by the Bhim Army, the grassroots organisation from which Chandra Shekhar Azad formed his Azad Samaj Party.
Mr. Varun recalled how, “Parul and I would keep fighting over every little thing. But whenever I or anyone in the family needed anything, she was always there.”
As an example, Mr. Varun talks about how he had once asked Parul to buy him a motorcycle. “She did not tell me, but ever since that day, she kept saving money, and one fine day, she bought me a second-hand motorcycle. I never had to ask her for anything twice,” Mr. Varun says.
The family now depends on the small salary of ₹8,000 to Rs 9,000 a month that Varun brings home. “We have not even thought about what comes next,” Mr. Gopal said, talking about their family’s finances. He has not been able to work ever since he suffered a slipped disc. With Parul gone; the family doesn’t know how it will manage to pay the monthly rent of ₹5,000.
“She was paying for my medication. Varun is doing his best but I'm afraid, it will not be enough," Mr. Gopal said.
Bhim Army activists who knew Parul talked about the lengths to which the promising young singer went to help her family financially. Ranvijay*, a Bhim Army activist, said Parul worked as a civil defence volunteer, and sang Haryanvi pop numbers and devotional songs for money.
But what she was clearly proud of was her tribute to Ambedkar. Her last few YouTube videos show her performing at Ambedkar Jayanti events.
‘Police inaction’
“Now the police are saying they have arrested two people for the killing and that they are taking legal action. But what is the point now? Will my daughter come back? They could have started taking us seriously from May 14 onwards,” Mr. Gopal said.
The Delhi Police have denied the family's allegations. A senior officer said that the plot to kill her was hatched in Haryana's Meham, adding that she was killed on May 11 itself, outside the jurisdiction of the Delhi Police. The family said it first approached the police on the night of May 13.
Technically, the case wouldn't have been of Delhi's but the police here registered the case and did everything to find her, the officer said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Shankar Choudhary told The Hindu, "In this case, we were extremely proactive. We were not reactive."
(* Some names have been changed to protect the identity of the victim)
