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“Dalits’ massacre aimed at grabbing land”: Fact-finding team

JAIPUR: The recent massacre of four Dalits at Dhonde Ka Pura village in Dholpur district of Rajasthan was carried out in an all-pervading atmosphere of terror unleashed by the forward caste men to grab the land and houses of Jatav and Koli communities. The brutal murders were the result of an intense caste rivalry rampant in the dacoit-infested district.

A fact-finding team of the Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR) which visited the village over the weekend found the families of the victims in a state of shock and an absolute lack of remorse among the dominant Gujjars. Eight members of the Gujjar community accompanied by three Rajputs allegedly committed the murders.

The 11 murderers – two of whom have been arrested while others are absconding – allegedly mutilated the bodies of victims after gunning them down. According to eyewitness accounts recorded by the team, the killers beheaded the bodies and chopped off their arms and legs. They then went to a nearby temple shouting slogans and firing in the air.

CDR chairperson P.L. Mimroth, who led the 10-member team, told reporters here on Monday that the Gujjars and Rajputs killed the four members of Jatav community on the pretext of taking revenge for the alleged murder of one Rajbahadur Thakur of Revai village two years ago. Thakur’s body was dumped in the farm of Ratanlal Jatav to implicate him in the crime.

Ratanlal and his brothers Natthi and Ramswaroop were shot dead on July 9 morning when they were working at a road construction site under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme. The fourth victim of the massacre was Ramvir, who happened to pass by the road on his tractor.

A three-year-old child of Ratanlal’s family, Dipendra, sustained serious injuries in the firing and is under treatment.

Mr. Mimroth said the majority of Jatavs and Kolis had fled from Dhonde Ka Pura village over the past few years and their immovable properties grabbed by dominant Gujjars.

Ratanlal’s family was among the three Jatav households still surviving in the village and the murderers wanted to drive them out.

The fact-finding team found the role of police “suspicious” as they hurriedly conducted autopsy on the bodies of the deceased on the spot and forced the next of their kin to cremate them together.

“Terrified Dalits, who fear that they may be attacked again, have not been provided with any security,” said Mr. Mimroth.

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