NEW DELHI: Their injuries may have healed, but the victims of the alleged monkeyman attacks are yet to recover from the emotional trauma they have been undergoing since the ``fateful sighting''.
A day after an expert report dismissed the whole thing as a ``figment of imagination of emotionally weak people,'' alleged victims in northeast Delhi were indignant.
A woman in Gokulpuri, who did not wish to be named, produced documents from Guru Teg Bahadur hospital which stated ``attack by a monkey-like creature cannot be ruled out.''
``She did see him. It wasn't a hallucination. Because the police could not trace the vanmanush, the authorities are blaming it on the victims and the media to hide their own incompetence,'' her husband said.
He requested anonymity as ``We have been facing a lot of trouble since the attack.'' He added: ``My wife has been forced to make rounds of hospitals to meet dimaag ke doctors. The police asked me to retract my statement or else we would have to go to court and depose before several people. Now I do not want any more trouble,'' said the almost panic-stricken man.
Suresh Chandra, another `victim' in Nand Nagri, was more forthcoming. ``I saw the creature with my own eyes. I did not even complain to the police about the attack as I knew they would not believe me and brand me insane,'' he said, adding: ``This report has confirmed my belief. The police could not catch the creature and have got the so-called experts to put the blame on people like us and the press.''
Kamal and Sunil, victims in Uttaranchal near Loni border, were reluctant to speak to the media. Their neighbour Raj Kumar said: ``The two were bleeding from the neck and stomach. Now something attacked them. The authorities should have found that thing out and not just try to close the case by saying the whole affair is a kahani.''
But the victims and eyewitnesses are not the only ones saddened by the experts report.
``At the height of the scare, there was an almost constant supply of electricity. The increased police patrolling had led to a drop in crime. Youngsters would stay awake at night to patrol the area. It was like a carnival then,'' said Sanjay Dangwal, a resident of Gokulpuri, while longing for the ``good old days''.
Prakash Singh, a resident of Nand Nagri, complained: ``I could not make it to the crorepati shows on TV. So when the police announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information on the monkeyman, I thought maybe now I could make some money. Does this report mean that the reward stands cancelled?''
It seems that instead of sorting out the riddle, the latest report has just added more questions to the whole bandar mystery.
India's Monkey Man Victims Indignant Over Hysteria Findings
Recently recovered FarShores file Jan 2007
[Original headline: `Monkeyman's victims spurn expert report ]
The Times Of India / Delhi | Saurabh Sinha - June 19 2001
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