KANPUR: In a ghastly incident, four Dalits were done to death in cold blood by a group of upper caste people in Indra mukh village March 8, The Dalits, Kallu (40), his son Dhruvypal (18), his cousin Sri Chand (22) and Ram Gopal (32) were strangulated and chopped to pieces by the killers. The killings have created wide spread fear in the upper caste dominated village and Dalits have fled their houses. Senior police officers are camping in the village along with a heavy contingent of police force. A PAC platoon has been deployed in the village to prevent any further violence. A special police picket has also been set up to contain any untoward incident. Reports reaching here said, about 18 months ago, 4 Hanjans of Indramukh village had murdered one Raju Dubey, for having illicit relations with some Dalit girls. Lala Dubey, brother of the deceased had lodged an FIR accusing four villagers belonging to the backward caste. Interestingly, none of the four killed had been named in the FIR.
Lala Dubey was looking for an Opportunity to avenge murder of his brother. On Sunday, the four Dalits were returning to their houses when the assailants over powered them and strangulated them one by one near a culvert in the village. The attackers then dragged the bodies to a nearby field, where they cut them into pieces and abandoned them under a tree. When the four did not return home till late in the night, their family members grew suspicious and a search was launched. They were shocked to see a heap of bones and flesh under the tree,
On receiving information, senior police officers rushed to the village and pacified agitated Dalits. The police raided hideouts of the assailants and arrested eight of the 12 accused in the FIR lodged with the local police.
Deputy Inspector General of police R.K.Bhatia described the incident as merely a case of old enmity. Bhatia said adequate security arrangements had been made to prevent any retaliation by the victims’ community. He claimed the situation was normal and peaceful in the village, Dalits allege that the incident could have been prevented had police been alerted. A compensation of Rs 10,000 each to the kin of the four killed has been announced.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 19, 1993
