'Jiten was falsely implicated in murder case' : Wife

VV Balakrishna
Express News Service
Last Updated : 31 Aug 2011 09:23:21 AM IST

HYDERABAD: “I feel proud of my husband,” said Aparna Marandi, wife of Jiten Marandi, singer and people’s artiste who was awarded death penalty by a sessions court in Jharkhand.

Aparna Marandi, who was here on Tuesday to participate in a meeting organised by intellectuals to demand removal of death sentence from the Indian penal laws.

Sharing her views with Express, Aparna said that her husband had fought for the Adivasis and against the multinational companies which were looting the wealth of native Adivasis.

“My husband motivated people with his songs.

But, he is falsely implicated in the case of the murder of Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi’s son Anup Marandi.” When her husband was jailed, she was pregnant and delivered a male child later.

Now, Aparna, also an activist fighting for the rights of Adivasis, is carrying forward her movement while struggling to feed her two-yearold son Alok Marandi.

Fellow Adivasis and locals are providing food and shelter to Aparna.

Though, the local dailies apologised for naming Marandi a Maoist, the police foisted a wrong case to suppress the voice of Marandi, Aparna said.

Aparna is now looking after his son, gighting against the exploitation of Adivasis and also fighting a legal battle for repeal of the death penalty on her husband.

All these tasks need money but Aparna is bold enough to face these hardships.

“Let us all condemn the stifling of the voice of people’s artistes.

Right from Bhagat Singh to Jiten all faced such suppression,” she told a gathering of intellectuals.

Pained by her agony to lead the life, the meeting appealed to the audience to contribute thei mite to her.

Within no time, around Rs 12,000 was collected and given to Aparna.

She brought some pamphlets, a statement made by Jiten that he had no role in the murder, which were distributed to the audience.

APCLC president Seshaiah said that right from its inception APCLC had been opposing the death penalty and assured Aparna of the rights activists’ support to her.

Several activists like Varavara Rao of Revolutionary Writers Association, Ratnamala, Gadar, Telangana Journalists Forum leader Ramesh Hazare and Siva Reddy were present.