‘Only way to be heard’: Dalit from UPwho immolated self near Parl & died

Baghpat: Mahipal Kumar, father of the 26-year-old Dalit man Jitendra Kumar from Baghpat who self-immolated outside Rail Bhawan near Parliament on Dec 25 and succumbed to over 90% burns at a Delhi hospital early on Friday, said his son was desperately trying to get his voice heard after years of intimidation and injustice against his family by an upper-caste home guard and his aides.

Hours after cremating his son, Mahipal said, “I feel I am dead, my family is finished. Around 2:45am on Friday, we were called by the doctor at RML Hospital in Delhi to give some water to Jitendra, who had a few breaths left. He died minutes later… I will continue to fight against the influential men even if I’m forced to leave my village.”

Jitendra had been making the rounds of thanas and police officers’ houses to intervene after “some powerful people in his village” went after his father following an incident in 2021. Before leaving for Delhi by train on Dec 25, Jitendra told a few villagers that “if nothing works out, what I’ll do in front of Parliament will finally wake the police against injustice we are facing”.

Raj Pal, a neighbour, said, “We didn’t understand what he said that day. We thought he was going to Delhi for work related to sister’s wedding.”

His cousin, Gaurav Kumar, told TOI: “My brother was suffering and never showed it to us. Having received no help from cops, he went to Delhi to protest in some form…”

It all started in his hometown Patti Dhannaan under Chhaprauli in Baghpat in 2021 when Mahipal allegedly tried to stop some men near his house from selling country-made liquor. Incidentally, those men were backed by Kavinder Chaudhary, the home guard of the local police station, and his aides. Mahipal got into a brawl with Kavinder. Soon, Jitendra was slapped with two “fake” cases in 2021 and 2022.

When Mahipal tried to take up the matter with cops, he was allegedly “humiliated” and the home guard began to “intimidate” his family, said another neighbour, Ishwar Das. Jitendra even approached the SC/ST commission in Lucknow, but the cops disposed of the case “without a proper probe”.

Emboldened by the “local support”, Kavinder’s aides tried to “kill Jitendra’s father” in 2024. Gaurav added: “Mahipal was hit by a car. Luckily, he survived. Jitendra’s sister-in-law also suffered a miscarriage after she was kicked by the accused men who barged into the house with guns.” A case was finally lodged against Kavinder and his aides under the SC/ST Act. But no arrests were made and the perpetrators continued to roam free, making life difficult for Jitendra and his family.

SP (Baghpat) Arpit Vijayvargiya told TOI: “This case is sensitive. Both sides lodged cases against each other and chargesheet was filed. Now after the latest incident, ASP Baghpat has been ordered to find out why Jitendra took such an extreme step near the Parliament. The man’s main grievance was why no one was arrested from the other side. We’re now looking into it.” Kavinder has dismissed all the allegations against him.

Baghpat MP Raj Kumar Sangwan, meanwhile, told TOI: “I met the family and assured them of an unbiased inquiry. I will take up the matter with the CM and try to get investigations done by a different agency.”

Baghpat: Mahipal Kumar, father of the 26-year-old Dalit man Jitendra Kumar from Baghpat who self-immolated outside Rail Bhawan near Parliament on Dec 25 and succumbed to over 90% burns at a Delhi hospital early on Friday, said his son was desperately trying to get his voice heard after years of intimidation and injustice against his family by an upper-caste home guard and his aides.

Hours after cremating his son, Mahipal said, “I feel I am dead, my family is finished. Around 2:45am on Friday, we were called by the doctor at RML Hospital in Delhi to give some water to Jitendra, who had a few breaths left. He died minutes later… I will continue to fight against the influential men even if I’m forced to leave my village.”

Jitendra had been making the rounds of thanas and police officers’ houses to intervene after “some powerful people in his village” went after his father following an incident in 2021. Before leaving for Delhi by train on Dec 25, Jitendra told a few villagers that “if nothing works out, what I’ll do in front of Parliament will finally wake the police against injustice we are facing”.

Raj Pal, a neighbour, said, “We didn’t understand what he said that day. We thought he was going to Delhi for work related to sister’s wedding.”

His cousin, Gaurav Kumar, told TOI: “My brother was suffering and never showed it to us. Having received no help from cops, he went to Delhi to protest in some form…”

It all started in his hometown Patti Dhannaan under Chhaprauli in Baghpat in 2021 when Mahipal allegedly tried to stop some men near his house from selling country-made liquor. Incidentally, those men were backed by Kavinder Chaudhary, the home guard of the local police station, and his aides. Mahipal got into a brawl with Kavinder. Soon, Jitendra was slapped with two “fake” cases in 2021 and 2022.

When Mahipal tried to take up the matter with cops, he was allegedly “humiliated” and the home guard began to “intimidate” his family, said another neighbour, Ishwar Das. Jitendra even approached the SC/ST commission in Lucknow, but the cops disposed of the case “without a proper probe”.

Emboldened by the “local support”, Kavinder’s aides tried to “kill Jitendra’s father” in 2024. Gaurav added: “Mahipal was hit by a car. Luckily, he survived. Jitendra’s sister-in-law also suffered a miscarriage after she was kicked by the accused men who barged into the house with guns.” A case was finally lodged against Kavinder and his aides under the SC/ST Act. But no arrests were made and the perpetrators continued to roam free, making life difficult for Jitendra and his family.

SP (Baghpat) Arpit Vijayvargiya told TOI: “This case is sensitive. Both sides lodged cases against each other and chargesheet was filed. Now after the latest incident, ASP Baghpat has been ordered to find out why Jitendra took such an extreme step near the Parliament. The man’s main grievance was why no one was arrested from the other side. We’re now looking into it.” Kavinder has dismissed all the allegations against him.

Baghpat MP Raj Kumar Sangwan, meanwhile, told TOI: “I met the family and assured them of an unbiased inquiry. I will take up the matter with the CM and try to get investigations done by a different agency.”

Courtesy : TOI

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