The Maoists usually give 2 warnings to a person before killing them. As a result, when Mittu Markam left for Hiroli to meet the Maoists on 1st July 2020, he had no expectation that he would be seeing his wife for the last time.

“Mittu said he would be back by evening. At around 3 pm, we got a call from his big brother in the village, saying his car is by the side of the road and he did not know where the Naxals had taken him,” said Bhime Markam, who had been married to Mittu Markam for over 20 years.

Ms. Markam then went to Hiroli with her 3 children, aged 16, 13 and 11. They searched for an hour before finding his body in Hiroli.

“They had killed him and thrown his body on the side of the road. His legs and hands were tied and his neck was slashed,” recalled Ms Markam.

Mittu Markam had worked hard to create opportunities for his family. Prior to 2016, he lived in their village of Madakamiras in Kirandul, Dantewada. However, he was determined not to let this affect his children’s education.

“My father picked me up and dropped me everyday to a private school 10 kms from our village, just so I could have a good education,” remembers Sonu Markam, now in 7th grade. Sonu now lives with his mother Bhime at an accomodation provided by the National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC), where Mittu had worked for the last 5 years prior to his murder.

Even after shifting to Kirandul (the nearby town) after getting this well paying job, Mittu would regularly return to his ancestral village for festivals and holidays. He freely shared his wealth with the other villagers, according to his wife, even sponsoring a big vessel that was used as a communal plate for villagers to eat out of during festivals. His wife believes that his newfound success aroused the envy of other villagers, who conspired to have him killed. She believes that a local militia leader named Kailash had Mittu killed, with the implicit approval of the local commander Vinod Hemka. A team of journalists later asked Vinod the reason for Mittu’s murder, to which he admitted making a mistake.

“What good is it to say sorry after killing my husband? They should have at least tied him up before killing him in such a hurry,” said Bhime Markam, tears welling up in her eyes.

In line with the wishes of Mittu Markam, the family does not want the incident to affect the education of their 2 younger children. However, this is proving difficult as NMDC has asked them to vacate their accommodation as Mittu no longer works for them, in which case they would have to return to their village where education standards are abysmal.

The collector of Dantewada assured us that a separate accommodation would be given to Bhime Markam for the remainder of her life. Bhime is also hopeful for the future as her entire family has pulled together in this time of crisis. She plans to get the one government job legally due to her as a victim for her eldest child, who has completed 12th grade so that he can support the 2 younger brothers in completing their education fully.