Affidavit of Smt. Balwant Kaur W/o Late S. Mahinder Singh, aged 55 years, resident of RZ T-46/229, West Sagarpur, presently residing at 113-C, Tilak Vihar, New Delhi.

That on 31^st October, 1984 evening, Dharam Chand, Pardhan of the colony came alongwith Lakhi Ram and told us that they had been sent by Sajjan Kumar, MP to collect rupees 15 each for constructing a pucca road. They also checked our ration cards. Rupees 15 per family were collected from Sikh families only. They held a meeting at night. The meeting was held at the back of our house and sounds were coming from the meeting place till midnight. My son, Sukhdev Singh, returned from his work in Maya Puri at about 9:30 PM, and he told us that the scooters belonging to Sikhs were being burnt. Some people told him to go back as the Sikhs were being killed. He had a great difficulty in reaching home by walking stealthily from Janak Puri round about and Gujjar’s houses. This frightened us all.

Early in the morning on 1-11-84, my husband went to see the Gurdwara. The Gurdwara had been burnt by them, Sikhs’ shops had also ben burnt. In our area, the Gurdwara was burnt first of all Gopal Singh, who lived near the drain told us that these Jats would have killed you last night, but he had restrained them by telling that they are good in number and you will yourself get killed. He also said that they did not attack you at night but they will definitely come to attack you during the day and you better try to save yourselves. My husband told me all this. Thereafter, three persons Partap Pradhan, Dharam Chand Pardhan and Raghunath Pandit came to our house. They went to the shop of my brother-in-law Pritam Singh and told him taht all of you cannot escape from here. One by one and stealthily you might escape. After saying taht they went away. Lakhi Ram Chaudhary was living opposite our house and he had very good relations with our family. He took eight or nine of our people to his tube well and asked others to go to the tube well of Jit Ram (his brother). The people who went to Lakhi Ram’s tube well were 1). my uncle-in-law, Hari Singh, 2). my husband Mahinder Singh, 3). my brother-in-law, Pritam Singh, 4). My second brother-in-law Jit Singh, 5). My nephew Jarnail Singh, 6). Another nephew, Gug Singh, 7). One Gurcharan Singh, resident near the drain, 8). A Sikh shopkeeper and 9). Avtar Singh (son of Pritam Singh). These nine persons kept hiding till 4:30 PM on the tube well of Lakhi Ram. Later on, Lakhi Ram went to his village Nasirpur after locking them in and handing over the key to Bijey (Vijay Kumar) who lived at his tube well. Bijey when served them tea. While they were still holding cups of tea in their hands, then or twelve persons belonging to the gang of Jats came running towards tube well. They were shouting that they had come to know that the Sardars are hiding here. They at once set on fire the fodder stock around the tube well. All the ladies including me and my mother-in-law were seeing all this from opposite side of the shop of Lakhi Ram. Loud cries of our people were being heard. When I and my mother-in-law rushed to see, we saw Jarnail Singh (nephew) and Jit Singh (brother-in-law) being attacked with sticks. Others were being burnt in the tube well. There was a loud bang when the tube well motor burst. We all began to cry.

The people who went to Jit Ram’s tube well were 1). My son Sukhdev Singh, 2). My brother-in-law Lakhwinder Singh, 3). Another brother-in-law Balwinder Singh, 4). Son of my sister-in-law, Tirlochan Singh, 5). Baldev Singh husband of my sister-in-law from Amritsar. 6). Nephew of my sister-in-law Gian Singh, 7). Avtar Singh, cousin of Hari Singh, 8). Amrik Singh son of Hari Singh, 9). Jaswant Singh son of Hari Singh, 10). Paramjit Singh son of Pritam Singh and 11). Rachpal Singh nephew of Pritam Singh. As they were going to find shelter at Jit Ram’s tube well at about 11 AM, they were attacked with bricks, iron rods and sabbals by the Jats of Nasirpur and Dabri villages who burnt them by pouring a white powder. Kerosene was filled in the spraying were crying as we were hiding in a house under construction at the back of our house. We could see through the holes while hiding in the building we saw that they first caught hold of my brother-in-law, Gurnam Singh, then removed all his clothes except an underwear. Then they cut his hair (they had scissors with them). Then they took them around the colony while hitting them with sticks. They were saying that they were watching the disco dance of the Sikhs. See how good they danced. The mob was also dancing and rejoicing. Narinjan Singh and Santokh Singh, two sons of my brother-in-law, who were hiding in the house of Mahinder Pal (opposite Kapoor’s house), came out when they saw their father being attacked while he was naked. They were killed by Jats with iron rods, sticks and sabbals. Continuing the attacks, they reached the building under construction and attacked the women with bricks, pebbles, rods and sticks, we managed to go to back streets. Balwinder Kaur, my daughter-in-law was struck with a stone on the neck and she could not get up. I coaxed them to give some water and put in her mouth. They then remarked, “Save her, she is a good piece.” Sensing the connotation of their remarks, I got frightened and brought my daughter-in-law, who was in such a bad state, on the road side lest someone may misbehave with her.

There is a wooden stall on the back of our house. I kept my daughter-in-law there. By the time she regained consciousness, it was 6 PM. We all gathered in the burnt house when all came from wherever they were hiding.

Our aged father-in-law came at about 8 PM, from wherever he was hiding. He then asked my mother-in-law if any of her sons had returned alive. He told taht his arms were also broken with sticks. He enquired about all. Through out night our father-in-law kept hiding inside and we were sitting outside.

Those people were keeping a watch on us throughout the night by flashing battery light, and were saying, “You Gianis, say Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa. Why have you slept now, get up now, keep awake.” They were even kicking the dead bodies while passing near them. The two heads of two sons of my sister-in-law, who had been killed earlier at the back of our house were separated from their bodies and kept in the eating plates that had been thrown out. They even desecrated the dead bodies of our children. They did not permit us even to pour water in the mouths of our dying children.

On the morning of Friday, 2^nd November, Jagpal nephew of Lakhi Ram came and advised us to slip one by one or in batches of two towards Hari Nagar and said that they may kill or rape us if we remained there.

By then we were left with nothing. All the household items, vehicles etc., had been burnt. When my father-in-law, the aged Budh Singh accomplished my mother-in-law towards Hari Nagar, five or six persons struck him with sticks and threw him down. They told my mother-in-law to run away if she cared for life otherwise they would kill her too. They asked my father-in-law down, he kept on saying, “Bring back my children or kill me too.”

My mother-in-law and all of us reached Sagarpur Police Post (at the turning of Janak Puri) and complained that all our people had been killed and they even did not know. They replied that they knew nothing and told us to go to Sadar Police Station. We then walked and reached Hari Nagar frightened and crying. We stayed in the house of our brother-in-law Baldev Singh and Bhajan Singh.

There the Sikhs provided us relief by going food and water. We had left our house bare-footed and bare-headed.