Kandhamal survivors mourn death of “innocent’s” wife

By Purushottam Nayak

Kandhamal: The death of wife of one of the Kandhamal’s “Seven Innocents” brought gloom to the survivors of the 2008 anti-Christian violence and their supporters.

Gumili, wife of Durjo Sunamajhi, one of the seven people accused of murdering a Hindu ascetic, died August 19 in a hospital in Berhampur where she was admitted with fever two days ago. She was 50.

Swami Laxmananand Saraswati was shot dead on August 23, 2008, as Hindu celebrated Janmashtami, the birthday of their Lord Krishna. It triggered unprecedented violence against Christians that lasted for several months.

A court in Odisha convicted the seven for the swamy’s murder after the police arrested them in the ‘second batch of murders’ and trial that activists allege was farcical.

Father Ajay Singh, a human rights activist working among the survivors in Odisha, said Gumili’s death has saddened him.
“Her husband’s incarceration had taken a heavy toll on her life,” the priest of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese told Matters India.

Father Singh said he had found Gumili traumatized when he met her in her house. “Hopefully the husband would bear the loss and clear his name in the case at the earliest,” Father Singh told Matters India.

Bijay Sanseth, who was also accused of assassinating the swamy, said he was disheartened to know Gumili’s death.

According to him, the woman had suffered psychologically, physically and economically during her husband’s jail term.

Anto Akkara, a veteran journalist who campaigns for justice of “the seven innocents,” expressed sadness that Gumili could not live to see the final verdict that he said would acquit her husband and other six “innocents.”

According to Akkara, Durjo’s case is unique because he was on a train journey to Kerala with his nephew and others for a job when the Hindu ascetic was killed.

“Yet he was convicted for the murder after he was arrested as the ‘second batch of murders’ and the farcical trial,” Akkara told Matters India.

He recalled the Odisha High Court denying bail to the seven twice. Their appeal against the conviction is pending before the court for the past eight years. “Thank God the Supreme Court granted them bail after 11 years in 2019,” he added.

Akkara hailed Gumili as a quiet but brave woman. “I had met her many times in Kandhamal and took her to Delhi along with the wives of other six in 2016 to launch the online campaign www.release7innocents.com. Despite her continued suffering, she never complained about anything. She was contented with what she had,” he added.

The seven innocents are Sanatan Badamajhi, Munda Badamajhi, Durjo Sunamajhi, Bijay Kumar Sanseth, Bhaskar Sunamajhi, Budhadeb Nayak and Gornath Chalanseth.