How Bijapur Attack Snatched Away Ex-Maoist Couple’s Happily Ever After - News18
“Nuni khana khaa li? (Has our daughter eaten?)" These last words of her husband are what Jogi Vatti keeps repeating. Saddling her one-year-old son and three-year-old daughter at Katekalyan’s Bandipara panchayat in Parcheli village, Jogi is uncertain about her future. Her husband had promised to come back home on Monday, instead, his dead body arrived.
Jogi, a former CPI Maoist member, became a homemaker four years ago. She had hoped for a life away from bullets and violence until destiny unveiled its brutal plans. Jogi’s husband, Somdu Vatti, was ripped apart as an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded below the vehicle he was travelling in. Somdu was one of the eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans who were killed in Bijapur on Monday.
Somdu was a surrendered Maoist who had joined the DRG — the special force of Chhattisgarh police that utilised the experience of former Naxals. His family members recall that even as a young boy, Somdu was not interested in studies. “He ran away from the hostel in class 1 or 2," his brother Mahender, who went to the same government-run school-cum-hostel, said. “He then took to farming for a few years before going to Andhra Pradesh to work as a labourer," he said.
Soon the police were looking out for Maoist Somdu. Did he get influenced to join them while in Maoist hotbed Andhra? The family isn’t sure, but the belief in Katekalyan is that love was the motivation for Somdu to give up arms.
#BreakingNews | IED blast targets a police vehicle carrying 20 jawans in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, at least 9 jawans killed@Arunima24 shares more details @AnchorAnandN | #TheRightStand #BijapurNaxalAttack #chattisgarh pic.twitter.com/9nBBl9tyMg— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 6, 2025
As per Dantewada administration officials, Somdu and Jogi wanted to get married and start a life together, which is why the two surrendered. The CPI Maoist does not allow family life or marriage for its cadre.
Mahender told News18 that the two got married in Dantewada soon after their surrender. “In 2017, he joined the Maoists. Around 2021, he was picked up (by police). He later gave up arms. They got married in Dantewada and then came to our village together," Mahender said.
Jogi is not in a position to recall her love story. All she can mumble is the hardships of jungle life. “It was very tough. Getting regular meals in the jungle is also difficult," the tribal from Sukma said.
Jogi never went to school. In the jungle, she says she never picked up a rifle, but was part of the ‘Janatana Sarkar volunteers’.
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Her life in the police quarters of Dantewada, post surrender, gave her hope of education for her children. Now, with her husband dead, uncertainty, fear of violence and Maoists loom large. “Jungle walon se dar lagta hai. Hum wapas Dantewada chale jayenge," she said.
The love of her life dead, the mother of two’s only hope is that the government will find her a job and give her children an honest chance at life.
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