Hindu widow saved 10 Muslims in Bihar riots

Azizpur (Bihar), Jan 21: A Hindu woman who saved lives of 10 Muslims in this village in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district during the recent clashes in which five people died is being hailed as a hero, officials said. Shail Devi, a frail widow in her early 50s, risking her own life, gave shelter to her Muslim neighbours when a mob of more than 5,000 people attacked Azizpur Bahilwara village after a 20-year-old Hindu boy's body was found Sunday. He was allegedly abducted and killed over his love affair with a Muslim girl. "I provided shelter to my Muslim neighbours to save their lives because the mob could have killed them," Shail said Wednesday morning. Shail, a poor woman fighting for her survival like many others in this village, told IANS that she along with her two daughters stood guard outside her house when a mob was targeting Muslims in the village. She told them that it was a house of a 'Mallah' (fisherman). "I lied to rioters that I had not given shelter to Muslims in my house. Though some people tried to enter my house but I stopped them and they returned," she said. Shail, widow of late Jaglal Sahni, has become a household name in the village and neighbouring villages for her rare example of communal harmony.