The killing of a labourer from Maldah in far- away Rajasthan almost two years ago weighs heavily on the minds of people of the district, which is heavily dependent on remittance from its male members working as construction labourers in other states, as it prepares to vote on April 23.
Mohammad Afrajul, a labourer from Saiydpur village, was allegedly hacked and burnt to death by a man in December 2017. The attack was filmed on video, which shows the victim pleading for his life.
"The video is still there. People in the village still see it. I don't know what wrong he did, but I keep wondering was it his religion that killed him," asked Afrajul's wife Gulbahar Bibi in her one-room house, with her youngest daughter
Habiba and her grandchildren sitting near her.
Afrajul's death stunned the district, whose extent of migration is such that the Farakka Express leaving Malda railway station every evening to ferry migrant workers to Delhi is popularly called the 'labour express'.
"There is not a family in this village, in fact the entire area, where someone or the other is not working as a labourer in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan or such places. There is nothing here -- no development, no jobs. If our children get killed over their religion, then there is no hope for us," said Mohammad Babul, whose three sons are currently in Delhi working at a construction site.
"I want my sons to be here. Whoever comes to power, should ensure that migration becomes a choice, not a necessity," he said.
For Afrajul, who worked as a labourer for 20 years in Rajasthan, all he had to show at the end of his life was Rs three lakh as compensation from the state government, a Rs 6000 job for his eldest daughter and a Rs 750 pension for his wife.
"I have seen a lot of grief in my life, just when I thought I would get some peace, it all ended," Gulbahar said, recalling the phone call that brought her world crashing down.
Will she vote on April 23 when Malda Uttar and Malda Dakshin go to polls in the third phase of the elections? Does she expect anything from anyone this election?
"Why shouldn't I vote? It's my right. I will vote to do my bit. Even at a time when the video was viral and my family was suffering, not one leader from the BJP came to see us. In the past two years, no one from the party has come."
It is not just this village, but surrounding areas as well where the fear of losing a loved one has made families call their sons home.
"Many have come back like me. But I know I have to go back, as will the others. What will we do here? Roll bidis with our sisters," asked Mohsin in nearby Babangram.
Just after the incident, locals recall migrant workers had come back in droves, many had even signed up for a one time grant of Rs 50,000 announced by the West Bengal chief minister urging them to return. However, their growing needs at home, insufficient financial security have driven them back.
"We have no hope, no expectations. Life will go on, there will be many more Afrajul's, people will forget. These people will again come back in five years for our votes," said Babul, going back to his tea stall, "I can just pray hard everyday, that not one of them is my son.
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