Bhopal: As the World witnessed on April 2, millions of Dalits taking to the streets to protest against the dilution of laws which were in turn meant to protect them from atrocities by upper castes.
As per the investigation done by private agencies about the number of Dalits killed during the clashes, a number of them may have been due to the victims of upper caste retaliation.
A total eleven people were killed during the protests held across the country due to the Supreme Court making changes to the SC/ST (Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes) Act. Eight people were killed just in the Gwalior-Bhind-Morena region on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
There were some efforts to inquire into the seven deaths to find that six victims were all Dalits. In almost every case, the accused were found to be belonging to the upper caste. So, far the police were not able to make a single arrest in the six cases.
According to the police records, two Dalit men – Pradeep and Akash Jatav were killed by a group of upper caste men in separate incidents in Mehgaon and Bhind.
The First Information Report (FIR) has the details that Sonu Baishandar, Monu and Ballu Rathore, all upper caste men, fired at him from a roof.
The same men’s name comes up in the FIR on the killing of Akash Jatav.
The family of Akash says that while he was returning from the Bhind market after buying vegetables when he was shot. Before his death, he was able to make a call.
The three alleged killers are still missing. A Rs. 10,000 reward has been declared for any information on them.
Dashrath Jatav was found dead on the day after the protests in a farm in Bhind. His family says he was beaten to death by upper caste men.
“He (Dashrath) participated in the rally with my aunt when stone pelting started. The Thakurs dragged and killed him,” his nephew Neeraj Narwaria told News Agencies.
No one know how Deepak Jatav died. He ran a tea stall in Gwalior and his death remains a mystery.
The 22-year-old was not protesting, says his father. He was just standing at his tea stall which he ran, when he was shot at, according to him. Three bullets were shot at Deepak – two in the stomach, one in the head.
Deepak’s father does not have any idea of whether he died from Raja Chauhan’s bullets; he says he was informed that his son was killed by another kind of weapon.
“They (police) told me he was killed by .12 or .13 bore bullet. I do not know the difference,” Mohan Jatav, Deepak’s father told News Reporters.
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