A policewoman accompanies Dhananjoy’s niece in Kuludih. Picture by Sanjay Chattopadhya

Jamdoba (Bankura), Aug. 14: At 4.30 am today, Purnima Chatterjee became a widow.

She lived with Dhananjoy Chatterjee for only seven months after exchanging vows to spend her entire life with him and spent 14 long years praying and hoping her husband, convicted of raping and murdering teenager Hetal Parekh, would come back.

The 35-year-old is shattered. She had battled for Dhananjoy’s life in courts, begged for mercy from governors and presidents with an unshakeable belief in her husband’s innocence and dread of widowhood.

But Purnima knew it was all over when her father came up to her after the 6 am news bulletin on the radio. “Ma, toke shokto hote habe re,” said Anil Mukherjee.

Although the family strictly follows Hindu practices, Purnima has not yet changed her attire. “We don’t want to see her in a widow’s garb,” said cousin Manash.

“Two families and villages have collapsed after Dhananjoy’s death sentence was carried out,” said Samir Goswami, Purnima’s uncle and a CPM member.

He added that they were in no hurry for Purnima to adopt the harsh life of a widow.

Goswami has been at the side of the Mukherjee family since Dhananjoy’s arrest and conviction.

He took Purnima to his house about 2 km away yesterday to protect her from intrusions by reporters. They returned late in the evening, but Purnima’s restlessness had not diminished. Irregular eating and the trauma had taken their toll.

“I don’t understand why the district administration did not send a doctor here to check her up, as they did in Kuludih,” Goswami said, referring to Purnima’s in-laws’ house.

“Fortunately, I brought in a doctor I know who looked after her.”

Police sent the second officer of Chhatna police station to see that nothing went wrong during the night.

On Saturday afternoon, the entire village wore a look of gloom. Each of the 20 families shared the grief of the Mukherjees and seemed determined to stand by Purnima through thick and thin.

Purnima’s family has, however, refused help offered by the government as well as the dues Dhananjoy had earned in jail.

“We are fed up and despise the administration for the dual punishment that my brother-in-law suffered,” said Manash.

The family, reeling under poverty after they had to sell their piece of land and other valuables to help Dhananjoy fight the case, is not against any voluntary organisation offering help in the form of counselling and guidance.

“If any organisation wants to do this on humanitarian grounds, we would welcome it,” Goswami said.