Etawah (UP): Kusma Nain, who was once the notorious 'bandit queen' of Chambal Valley spread over Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, died due to illness at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow on Sunday, a jail official said here.
Etawah District Jail Superintendent Kuldeep Singh said that dacoit Kusma Nain, who was serving life sentence in Etawah District Jail, was admitted to the Doctor Bhimrao Ambedkar Government Hospital in Etawah headquarters on February 1 in a critical condition due to TB disease.
He said that from there, she was sent to Saifai Medical University for better treatment, but the doctors there referred her to SGPGI Lucknow where she died during treatment on Saturday afternoon. Mortal remains of Kusma Nain's were taken to her native village Tikri village in Sirsa Kalar of Jalaun district, where she was cremated.
Kusma, who was suffering from TB disease for about two months, was serving sentence in Etawah District Jail for about 20 years. Notorious dacoit Ramasare alias Fakkad, who was synonymous with terror in UP and MP, and his entire gang, including his associate former dacoit beauty Kusuma Nain, surrendered at the Rawatpura outpost of Damoh police station in Bhind district of MP on June 8, 2004.
All the members of the gang surrendered unconditionally before the then Superintendent of Police of Bhind, Sajid Farid Shapoo. While UP police had declared a reward of Rs 1 lakh, MP police had declared Rs 15,000 on Fakkad Baba. UP had declared a reward of Rs 20,000 and Madhya Pradesh had declared Rs 15,000 on Kusuma Nain. The gang had committed more than 200 crimes in UP and 35 crimes in MP.
Who is Kusuma Nain?
Kusuma Nain was born in 1964 in Jalaun district's Tikri village. Her life took a dramatic turn when teenager Kusuma eloped with her lover, Madhav Mallah, who was a member of a notorious dacoit gang. After being caught and separated, Kusuma was married off to someone else, but she eventually rejoined Madhav and became involved in his gang's activities.
Her crimes were marked by brutality. Kusuma hogged the limelight in 1984, when she, along with dacoits Lalaram and Shriram, killed 15 fishermen by lining them up and shooting them in Asta village in Auraiya district. She then set fire to the village, leading to the deaths of a mother and her 5-year-old son. This was done as a revenge act for the 1981 Behmai massacre, where Phoolan Devi and her gang shot 20 men dead. In 1996, she also blinded two fishermen.
