Frequent visits to the local police station, fighting allegations of being a thief and climbing a tower to draw police's attention to his complaint -- this is what the last two years looked like for Dularam, a 70-year-old farmer from Rajasthan's Churu, after a calf was stolen from his house in Ramnagar Bass.
His fight for justice came to an end on Sunday when he finally got custody of the cow after its DNA matched with its mother, which lives with Dularam.
The septuagenarian broke down as policemen handed over the cow and its two calves to him, hugging the animals like they were long-lost family members.
"I was exhausted as the police did not act on my complaint," Dularam said.
He said the calf was stolen on February 11, 2021 and he lodged a complaint in the matter at Sardarshahar police station on December 14.
An FIR was registered on December 21 after the superintendent of police intervened, but the police filed a Final Report (FR) after a few days, he claimed.
An FR is filed after completing the investigation into a case.
Dularam claimed that he was "chased away and abused" by policemen whenever he went to the police station. The man who stole the cow also tried to frame him as a thief, he alleged.
"I had decided that I will not rest till I get justice, even if I have to sell all of my land," he said.
Then one day, Dularam learnt that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot would be visiting Churu to campaign for the Sardarshahar assembly bypoll on November 30, 2022, and he decided to use it to draw attention to his plight by climbing a tower.
"When the news reached the police, they rushed to the spot and assured me that they would get a DNA test of the cow done. I climbed down from the tower only after their assurance," Dularam said.
Bikaner inspector general handed over the case to Taranagar Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Omprakash Godara. On January 3 this year, the DSP collected DNA samples from the cow at Dularam's house and the stolen calf. The samples were sent to Hyderabad for testing.
The DNA report, which came on May 20, showed that the samples matched.
"After the DNAs matched and the test report came to us, we took action and handed over the cows to Dularam. The investigation against the accused persons is on and appropriate action will be taken," DSP Godara said.
The cow and its two calves were taken from the house of Gangaram Prajapat, a resident of Sardarshahar, and handed over to Dularam.
While Dularam is happy to have got custody of the cows, he doesn't plan to rest just yet.
He plans to launch a protest outside the Sardarshahar police station to seek action against police personnel, including the station house officer, responsible for filing the FR in his case.
"I will now protest in front of the police station until my demand is fulfilled," he said.
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