This is a story of how even well-meaning government schemes can lead to misgovernance, even if only at the individual/family level. Public Reporter Jennifer Sheppard of the NGO, Nishan, writes about how life turned topsy-turvy for Shashi Bala after her husband, a Delhi police constable, was felled by a colleague's bullets and she was given her husband's job on compassionate grounds. A housewife suddenly became a policewoman, her two children lost the benefit of her care and Delhi police got a reluctant, untrained policewoman.  

Shashi Bala thought her world had come to an end when her husband, a Delhi policeman, was killed on duty. Her troubles, in fact, were only beginning. When she sought pension to run her family, she was told – believe it or not –  to take the job offered in compensation and only then she would be eligible for pension.

So, the 38-year-old mother of two now works in a police station.

The exhausted but willing, Shashi Bala was courageous enough to share her story with our NGO, Nishan, when we visited her at the police station in Badarpur on the outskirts of Delhi.

The details surrounding Constable Brijbhushan Bala’s death on February 14, 2007 are still unclear, even to those who were closest to him. He had called her at 11.30 on the previous night to let her know that he would be home in the morning. He never made it.

Thirty minutes after his reassuring phone call to his wife, Constable  Bala was shot dead by his colleague during a potential criminal arrest. A senior police officer from the Badarpur Police Station alleges that Bala’s colleague was aiming at the perpetrator when he accidentally fired the bullet, missing the criminal and mortally wounding Bala in the chest.

When she sought pension, she was told she would not receive her husband’s pension unless she worked in the position offered to her in compensation.

Thus it was on May 21, 2008 that Shashi Bala joined the force as a police constable.

For a housewife and mother, adjusting to the new role has been a challenge. She had to undergo the physical training that women 20 years her junior undergo.

“Having two children and being a housewife for all my life, it was very difficult for me… My life has gone completely topsy-turvy, in my old life I never went out of the house, and now I’m exposed to a difficult environment,” Shashi Bala says.

Her new job has also taken a toll on her two teenaged sons, who are trying to cope with the sudden change and her absence in home for better part of the day. The boys now hold a deep animosity towards police in general, Shashi Bala confided.

Also, their school work is suffering and their grades are slipping. Shashi Bala used to tutor the boys three hours a day, but that is no longer possible. “They want me to quit my job…” she says with a painful smile on her face.

Originally she wanted the police job to be given to one of her sons, but her request was rejected.

Shashi Bala’s is a sad story, though she is luckier than many widows in similar situations, for at least she has the help of her in-laws who help escort the children to and from school and offer their support.

The constable responsible for her husband’s death has been moved to another police station. She has made many attempts to contact the man, but he avidly avoids any communication with her.

“I only want to meet the person who shot the bullet that killed my husband. I want to see him and ask him what were the last words my husband said before he died.”

Author's email: jaliebl@gmail.com

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