'I still fast on Karwa Chauth': 17 years on, wife awaits justice as mystery shrouds ‘disappearance' of Malegaon blast accused

Time of India

a day ago

INDORE: On the night of Nov 10, 2008, Dilip Patidar, a 26-year-old electrician from Indore, was picked up from his home by men claiming to be from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
He was never seen again.
Seventeen years have passed, but for his wife Padma Patidar, 42, time has stood still. Every morning, she applies sindoor, wears the mangalsutra, slips on the silver toe rings that mark her as a married woman, and performs all the rituals a wife would.
On Thursday, even as a special court acquitted seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, the agonising wait for Dilip Patidar - and justice -- continued for Padma and her son Himanshu, who was three when his father was taken away.
"I still fast on Karwa Chauth and Vat Savitri," Padma told TOI over phone from Makdon village in neighbouring Ujjain district.
"Unless God appears in my dreams and asks me to stop, I won't give up. As long as I am alive, I will keep believing he will return. I still consider myself his wife. I'm not a widow - but without him, I am one." she said.
On that Nov night, Padma and Dilip were at home in their small, rented room in Indore.
Their son Himanshu was asleep when, close to midnight, a loud knock startled them.
"Four or five men were outside. They said they wanted to talk to Dilip. They claimed they were taking him for questioning to Khajrana police station and promised he'd be back soon," Padma recalled.
But he never returned.
Dilip had no criminal record. He lived in a house owned by Ramji Kalsangra and his brother Shivji, those later linked to the
- which the family believes was the sole reason he was taken.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
"He didn't have any political affiliation. He just worked hard to provide for us," Padma said, adding that she rushed to Khajrana police station in the night, leaving her three-year-old son behind. She also went to the Indore district collectorate the same night. She said she was told Dilip might have been taken to Mumbai.
The following day, Dilip's father received a phone call from him. He said he was okay, but the fear in his voice was unmistakable.
For seven days, Dilip made brief calls - sometimes just 30 seconds long. "He said they were forcing him to confess to something he hadn't done. He was scared. He kept saying they were making him give statements under pressure. And then, on Nov 17, the calls stopped," Padma said.
The silence that followed was deafening - and permanent. Since that night in 2008, Padma has been searching not only for answers, but also for justice - navigating courts, knocking on the doors of politicians, and raising her son Himanshu alone.
Padma's counsel Ritu Bhargava told TOI that the family filed police complaints, approached the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court. The court finally ordered a CBI probe in 2010. The CBI implicated two Maharashtra ATS officers in Patidar's disappearance. But the Maharashtra govt did not grant sanction for prosecution. The officers were never booked.
The family also sought compensation of Rs 1 crore for Padma and her son.
But, the petition was rejected by the Madhya Pradesh high court. The family has now moved the apex court.
Himanshu, now 21, said, "I didn't have money for proper schooling or even a house to call our own. I worked odd jobs, depended on others. We've gone through more than most. Yet no one from the govt ever reached out. Not even basic compensation was offered."
Over the years, Padma's in-laws - once active in the fight - have grown silent.
"They're tired. Dilip's father and elder brother passed away. I have no one left but I won't stop," she said.
Padma has been living with her parents for the past year. While she doesn't have a job, Himanshu works part-time at a mobile phone repair shop while pursuing his studies.
She refuses to perform any rituals meant for the dead. "Some say I should conduct his final rites and move on. But how can I, when I don't even know what happened to him?"
She said people have suggested she should remarry. "But how can I? How can I break the promise I made to him? If they had at least returned his body, I could have grieved. But right now, I live with a wound that has no closure," Padma said.