To The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Govt. of India New Delhi 11 December, 2006 Respected Sir, Prof. Papiya Ghosh of Patna University, my sister, lost her life in the most barbaric and gruesome circumstances on 3rd December, 2006, in Patna. The perpetrators slaughtered her in the darkness of the night. She was single and therefore vulnerable. Her aged, invalid maid, Malti Devi, was not spared either by the criminals. We in the family, friends and well wishers are totally devastated by this heinous and dastardly crime against a defenceless woman. It is strikingly uncanny that my father, Ujjal Kumar Ghosh, a senior IAS Officer of the Bihar Govt. had met a similar tragic end at Patna on 3rd December, 1957. Prof. Ghosh was an erudite scholar and a dedicated teacher, who devoted herself wholeheartedly to the cause of higher education and original research on Bihar. She cherished academic excellence and consistently upheld the principles of intellectual honesty and integrity. At the time of her ghastly death, she was working on crucially important subjects related, inter-alia, to syncretic, popular culture, Partition, Indian Diaspora, Bihari Muslims and the history of traditionally deprived sections of society. The very strong condemnation and genuine outpouring of shock, outrage and grief from all over the world for Prof. Ghosh is a resounding acknowledgement of her abiding contributions in the academic field and an affirmation that she had touched and transformed countless lives. We cannot grieve enough for Papiya or bring her back to life. The last few hours of her life which were violated and desecrated with sheer viciousness, perversity and unimaginable cruelty, will always haunt us. In the circumstances, I earnestly appeal to you to use your good offices to ensure that justice is neither delayed or denied and that Prof. Ghosh’s supreme sacrifice does not go in vain. Inaction or insensitivity, I may most humbly add, will send out a very negative message and embolden criminals to carry out similar ruthless crimes with impunity against innocent, law-abiding citizens, especially women. A response from you in this regard will be greatly appreciated so that I may share it with family, friends and well wishers who are seriously concerned that this case does not end up becoming part of the statistics of “Unsolved or Unsolvable” crimes. Thanking You , Sd/ (Dr. T. Kumar)
Papiya GhoshA Historian, A Professor and Chirag of Family