A Durga Pandal in Gorakhpur has made itself stand out because of incorporating two effigies of the two accused in the Meerut “Blue Drum” murder case – Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla – in addition to demons. According to the organisers, the installation’s purpose is to draw attention to crime and to send a message of the consequences of wrong-doing.
The display, which is organised by the Yuva Golden Chhatra Samiti at Singhadiya (Gorakhpur), is set up. The normal activities of the Durga Puja fairs include decoration with lights, amusement rides, haunted houses but this year, the committee has decided to have a theme related to the crime.
The Meerut case went into the news when her court verdict was delivered on 15 October following almost 590 days of speculation over the murder of a merchant navy officer Saurabh Rajput. Both the accused Muskan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla have been convicted.
The case states that Rajput was administered with sleeping pills prior to being stabbed. He was then cut into pieces, the pieces put into a drum with moist cement sealing it, which drum was blue.
Member of the organising committee, Shivam Chaudhary stated that it had known about the verdict of the court and decided to include the case in its tableau. The organisers were pleased with the results and wished to send a wider message about anti-criminal activity, he said.
The committee has a hope that after visiting them, visitors will learn the lessons and will be more vigilant for the malfeasance in the society,” Chaudhary continued. The effigies have also garnered attention from those passing by, causing the haunted house to be a talking point during the holiday season.
Themes at local fairs are typically more traditional, whereas the theme that the organisers decide on is quite different. The committee has in effect designed what it describes as a “festive attraction”, but with a message about responsibility and the penalties for criminality, by using such a widely discussed criminal case.