BHOPAL: A Dalit couple who allegedly attempted suicide on seeing a JCB machine crush their standing crop was brutally assaulted by the police in Jagatpur Chak area of Guna district on Tuesday.
The alleged police brutality didn't end there, as the couple’s kin who tried to save them too were assaulted by cops. The police then went on to abuse and pushed away the helpless kids of the couple.
The Madhya Pradesh government had allotted the 20 bighas public land for construction of a Model Science College two years back, but the land had been encroached upon by the Dalit family, which claims to have been farming on it for a long time.
A revenue department team escorted by cops went to get the land vacated and pave the way for building a boundary wall there on Tuesday.
But the Dalit family resisted the government team’s bid. On seeing their entire standing crop being crushed by a JCB machine, the Dalit couple Ram Kumar Ahirwar and Savitri Devi went on to consume pesticide.
Following this, the cops assaulted them and forcibly dragged them into an ambulance. The couple’s kin, including Ram Kumar’s mother and brother, who tried to save them, too were brutally assaulted by the on-duty cops.
Further, when the Dalit couple’s kids tried to rush to save their parents, the weeping kids were verbally abused and pushed away by the cops.
Before the incident happened, Ram Kumar’s wife Savitri Bai said they’ve been farming on the land for years. “We don’t know whose land it is, we’ve been farming on it for a long time. If our standing crop is destroyed, we don’t have any other option but to kill selves. We have a debt burden of Rs 3 lakh on our heads - who will pay it, the government or anybody else.”
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Meanwhile, instead of acting against the cops, the Guna district police lodged a case under 353, 141, 309 of IPC against seven people, including the couple at the Guna Cantt police station.
After handing a clean chit to the police on Wednesday, Guna district collector S Vishwanath said, “We’ve probed the entire episode and checked the entire footage of the incident. Our team had to act only after the couple consumed pesticide and had to be rushed to the hospital. Had the team not acted, the couple could have died and more such cases could have taken place. The action was also essential as some others present on the spot were hell-bent on making the incident even more serious, but our priority was to rush the couple to the hospital. The couple is now out of danger".
According to the district administration, around 45 bighas land there has been grabbed by a land mafia led by Gabbu Pardi, who already owns 80 bighas land and a big house. The Dalit family was pushed to the forefront by Pardi and his men only to stop the encroachment removal team.
Importantly, the Dalit family had taken possession of the land after paying Rs 3 lakh to Gabbu Pardi.
The opposition Congress state spokesperson Narendra Saluja condemned the incident.
“If there was any dispute pertaining to the land, it could have been resolved as per law instead of the police assaulting the Dalit family and their kids. If the state government is so committed to removing encroachments from public land, then it should get public land cleared from big and influential encroachers. Was the family attacked only as it was Dalit and poor? The Congress will not stay silent, but raise the issue vigorously till the culprits are punished," he said.