RANCHI: An FIR has been lodged against seven people in Tarvan village in Jharkhand's Koderma for allegedly socially boycotting a murder accused in order to convey a strong message to the society, despite the fact that they were granted bail by the court. The village Panchayat in Tarvan village on March 23, had decided to punish the three accused persons and issued an order to boycott them socially.
The story, ‘Murder Accused out on bail face social boycott’, was carried prominently by ‘The New Indian Express’ in its March 26 edition.
In her FIR, Yashoda Devi, one of the accused persons in the dual-murder case, alleged that the village leadership denied their family the access to public places, including temples and schools in the village. The village Panchayat has also boycotted them socially for a period of 25 years, she alleged.
“Our children are prevented from attending school, and we're unable to live with dignity. The situation is affecting our mental health severely, prompting us to commit suicide," stated the complaint filed by Yashoda Devi. Not only that, the villagers on April 13, have also issued a dictat to drive them away from the village, she added.
The seven accused persons named in the FIR lodged on April 16 at Jainagar Police Staton include, Jainagar Pramukh Anju Devi, Kakarcholi Mukhiya Raj Kumar Yadav, besides Indradev Yadav, Ramashish Yadav, Ramashankar Yadav, Brahmdev Yadav, and Jagannath Yadav.
Mukhiya, Rajkumar Yadav, however, said that the decision was taken unanimously by the village Panchayat to boycott them so that a strong message could be conveyed to the society and such incidents does not get repeated again in future.
The FIR has been filed to divert their attention from the case, he said.
“Since the fourth accused is still at large, the accused persons have lodged the FIR only to implicate us in the case in order to divert our attention from actual issue. Since the fourth accused person is still absconding, they want the police and the villagers to divert their attention from the case,” said Rajkumar Yadav. He was present there merely as a spectator, not as a decision-maker; the allegations against him are baseless, he added.
Notably, Dilip Yadav, his wife Yashoda Devi and their son Rajesh Yadav from Tarva village are accused of killing Suman Devi and her eight-year-old son Prem Kumar in a property-related dispute in August last year. Suman's father Tipan Mahto had lodged an FIR against the family last August.
According to villagers, Dilip Yadav had three sons and his first son died of illness. His second son Upendra Yadav married Suman Devi in 2015 and had 2 sons and a daughter from her. In 2021, Upendra died in a suspicious fire.
After the death of the middle son, Dilip Yadav, his younger son and his wife, all three started harassing Upendra Yadav's wife Suman Devi every day. According to the villagers, the entire dispute is related to property.
After Upendra's death, Dilip Yadav and his wife did not want Suman Devi and her child to get a share in their ancestral property.
According to Mukhiya, Rajesh threw his nephew (Upendra Yadav and Suman Devi's younger son) on the road outside the house in a family dispute on August 27, 2024, due to which he died.
After this, Rajesh himself told the people around that the bodies of his sister-in-law Suman Devi and his younger son were lying in a well far from the house.
He wanted to cremate both of them secretly and appealed to the people around for cooperation, but people opposed it and informed the police, which led to their arrests.
Meanwhile, officer in-charge of Jainagar police station Bablu Kumar Singh informed that they have launched an investigation to determine the extent of involvement of the accused persons named in the FIR in the alleged social boycott and will proceed with appropriate legal action based on their findings.