Gurgaon: Three years after homeguard Neeraj Khan was shot dead on duty during the 2023 communal violence in Nuh, his family continues to battle financial hardship and personal loss. His widow Vakila and their two children now live in a single room in a 40-square-yard house in Garhi Bazidpur, trying to rebuild their lives.Vakila works as a contractual station housekeeper at Bhondsi police station, earning around Rs 19,000 a month. On the ground floor of the same house lives Neeraj’s father Chiranji Lal (76), a Kargil war veteran, who says losing his youngest son remains the hardest battle of his life.Neeraj, a Gurgaon-based homeguard, was part of the security deployment when clashes broke out on July 31, 2023, during the Braj Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra.He and another homeguard Gursevak, also posted at Kherki Daula police station, were killed in the line of duty as clashes spread across Nuh and later to parts of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Palwal. “The struggles never seem to end. Life has not been the same since my husband died. People slowly stopped asking about us after his death,” Vakila told TOI.The family received financial assistance of around Rs 57 lakh after Neeraj’s death, of which Rs 10 lakh was given to his father.Vakila said she did not, however, get to keep the full amount. She invested part of it in fixed deposits for her two children, but the remaining money has gradually been spent on household expenses and other responsibilities.Her son studies in Class 9 and her daughter in Class 6 at DAV Police Public School in Bhondsi. Vakila credits former Gurgaon police commissioner Vikas Arora for helping secure their admission without tuition fees.“I am grateful that my children can study without worrying about school fees. But raising two children on Rs 19,000 a month is extremely difficult,” she said.The family’s biggest challenge, she says, is space. Their one-room home barely accommodates the three of them.“My children still ask about their father. They remember him every day and often cry. I had never worked when my husband was alive. Today I leave home every morning because I have no other option. I want my children to lead a normal life,” she said, urging govt to provide her with a permanent job and allot a larger house.Neeraj’s father, who served in Charlie Company of the 22 Grenadiers and was part of the team deployed in the Batalik sector of Kargil, says, “Today I am fighting another war in my heart after losing my youngest son in the line of duty.”Neeraj’s elder brother, Sonu Khan, who works as a security guard with a private company, recalled that the two brothers had left for work together on separate scooters on the morning of July 31, 2023. “We left home at the same time, but he never came back. We were once a happy family. Now we silently carry this pain every day. Seeing his children and our father breaks us again and again. Neeraj was five years younger than me,” Sonu said.As Nuh braces for another Jalabhishek Yatra under heavy security on Monday, police deployments, court hearings and investigations take centre stage. But in Garhi Bazidpur, Neeraj’s family measures the cost of last year’s riots differently: an empty chair, two children’s unanswered questions and a grief that no case file can capture.
