BHOPAL: Heavy police force has been deployed in Parseria-Ghatkhedi village of Bhopal district following the arrest of four Yadav men, including a father-son duo, who had allegedly burnt a 62-year-old Dalit farmer alive in the village on Thursday.
The shocking episode happened in the village (70 km from Bhopal) on Thursday, when the 62-year-old farmer Kishorilal Jatav was allegedly set afire by the Yadav foursome before helpless wife Tankhiya in broad daylight. He was rushed by son Kailash Jatav and neighbours to the hospital, where he died despite all efforts by doctors to save him.
According to SP (Bhopal North) Hemant Chauhan, “all four men, including middle-aged farmer Tiran Singh Yadav, his son Prakash and two relatives Sanju and Balbir were arrested late on Thursday night only. They have been booked for murder under Section 302 of IPC and also under the provisions of SC/ST Act.” He added that as per the complaint of the deceased’s son, the accused were ploughing the agricultural plot on which Jatav’s family has been farming since many years. Seeing the Yadav foursome plough the field with tractor, the elderly Dalit farmer Kishorilal tried to stop them.
The accused first beat Kishorilal, but he continued to resist their bid to plough the field. The foursome subsequently caught hold of the Dalit farmer, poured petrol over him, before setting him ablaze – all before helpless wife Tankhiya, who kept on crying for help in vain.
Unable to save her better half, Tankhiya rushed back home and informed the family members and neighbours, after which Kishorilal’s son and neighbours rushed to the spot and took the badly burnt farmer to the hospital, where he died later.
The autopsy of Kishorilal’s body was performed later and his last rites performed under heavy police security in the evening, said SP Bhopal-North.
With the village being a Yadav dominated village, heavy police force has been deployed there to prevent any violent backlash by Yadavs over the arrest of four members from their clan.
Meanwhile, reacting over the incident, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Kamal Nath termed the incident as shocking. In the same tweet he questioned when will the state government stop the harassment of Dalits in the state.