Gujarat: Mob Kills Two Dalit Brothers Amid Dispute Over Land They Won In Lower Court

Two brothers belonging to a Dalit community were killed by a mob and even the women members of the family were injured allegedly by members of another community over a land dispute. The victim family had won a case in the lower court.

By Nikhil Singh

JE News Desk: In Gujarat’s Surendranagar, two brothers belonging to a Dalit community were killed group of people of another caste over a land dispute, police informed on Thursday. This happened on Wednesday evening in Samadhiala village in Chuda Taluka. The two brothers died at a government hospital in the town that same night, police officials quoted by PTI informed.

The complaint in the matter was registered by Parulben Parmar, who was also injured in the attack. The Chuda Police registered the complaint against six identified and around 15 unidentified persons – belonging to the Kathi Darbr community – on Thursday morning, Inspector General of Police for Rajkot, Ashok Kumar Yadav said.

“The victims were attacked because of a land dispute between the members of two different communities. The Dalits as well as Kathi Darbars have been staking claim on a piece of land in Samadhiala village,” the IGP said. The Kathi community is a fairly dominant group in saurashtra region. In fact, this region was named Kathiawar by the Maratha Empire and later the British too because of their dominance in the region.

“While two men died in the incident, some others, including women, were injured. An FIR has been registered in this connection,” Yadav added. Yadav claimed that the dispute of that piece of land dates back to 1998 and the Dalit family that claims it even won the case in a lower court.

The complainant, who is a widow, went with her two brothers-in-law (victims and brothers of the deceased husband) and their wives to their ancestral Samadhiala village. They started sowing on the land that they claimed as their own

The complainant, Parulben, claimed that the accused had tried to grab her ancestral land and were threatening her family to drop their claims on it for a long time. A group of nearly 20 mean allegedly attacked them using sticks and sharp weapons when they were returning after ploughing the field, the FIR states.

Amrabhai Khachar and his brothers led the attack against the complainant’s family, she claimed. They had attacked their vehicle and said that the land belongs to them and that no one should enter it, she said. The two brothers – identified as Aaljibhai and Manojbhai Parmar – along with the women accompanying them and the tractor driver were taken to the district hospital for treatment. The brothers died there.

The accused persons have been charged for murder, attempt to murder, rioting and under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the police informed.

Courtesy : English Jagran

Note: This news piece was originally published in englishjagran.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights