Bapi Sen paid with his life for taking on teasers

A decade has passed but not much has changed — daring to protect a woman from her tormentors can still cost a life, even one in uniform, and every time it does, Bapi Sen’s family is reminded of the day he was beaten to death by fellow policemen teasing a woman.

For Bapi’s family, his death has been life-changing. The wounds are still raw after all these years and news of constable Ashim Kumar Dam’s death for stopping goons from teasing his niece brought back a flood of painful memories.

“Every time I hear of someone being beaten up or killed for protesting harassment of women, the memories of that fateful day come back to haunt me,” said Bapi’s wife Soma who now works in the arms act department at Lalbazar. “Such incidents continue to happen. Those who commit such crimes don’t seem to care about anything.”

Five constables of the reserve force of Calcutta police were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004, two years after Bapi was assaulted by drunk youths teasing a woman near Bowbazar on New Year’s Eve. He slipped into a coma and succumbed to his injuries on January 6, 2003.

“My husband’s killers were punished but... I want harsh punishment for the killers of the policeman who died today,” Soma said. “Only those who have lost their dear ones in such an incident can understand the grief.”

Bapi’s elder brother, Anup Sen, agreed: “I fully empathise with Dam’s family members. I can feel what they are going through.... Speedy trial and strict punishment can perhaps instil some fear in the minds of criminals.”

Bapi’s younger son Shankhashubhra, now a Class IV student, was a toddler when his father died. “He asks about his father….what kind of a person he was and how he died,” Soma said.

Elder son Shomshubhra, who is appearing for Madhyamik this year, remembers the last day he spent with his father. Hours before the fateful incident, Shomshubhra had accompanied Bapi to watch a competition at the Behala Flying Club.

The family conducts a small ceremony on Bapi’s death anniversary every year. Initially, representatives from Calcutta police would attend but now it has become a family affair, say the Sens.