Five Dalits Lynched in Haryana

Five innocent Dalits were lynched to death allegedly by the police in connivance with local VHP activist on 15th October 2002 at Dulina Police Post, Jhajjar in Haryana. The blood stains on the road in front of the Dulina Police Post and the confusing stories made out by the local police does create some suspicion of an attempt to cover up the role of police in the grisly murder of Dalits. The story of cow killing does not seem to be true. The complicity of police in the whole affair does seem to be very deep as the police has failed to explain convincingly the sequence of events leading to the gruesome murder of Dalits.

A fact finding team of NCDHR visited Jhajjar, Dulina, Badshahpur, Tikli and Aklimpur in Haryana on 20th October 2002 to make an on the spot assessment of the incident. The team members found out that the police officials were neither present at Jhajjar Police Station nor at Dulina Police Post. Only head constables have put up there to answer any query regarding this incident. The official enquiry as ordered by the Chief Minister of Haryana has also not done much work so far. The very fact that the whole incident happened in the presence of the City Magistrate, the DSP of Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh, the Block Development Officer and at least 50 policemen points an accusing finger towards their involvement in this particular incident. Instead of arresting the culprits the police has merely filed an FIR against the mob and ironically the police has registered a case against the victims under the Cow Slaughter (Prevention) Act. The City Magistrate was quoted as saying that ten faces were in front of his eyes right through the night and he could not sleep, but even then not even a single person has been arrested so far. Under pressure from various quarters the Chief Minister of Haryana merely ordered an official inquiry to be headed by the Divisional Commissioner of Rohtak Mr. R.R. Banswal and also promised to pay Rs. 1 lakh (latter enhanced to Rs. 5 lakh) each to the victims family. Though Mr. Chautala has been visiting various nearby areas but went to see the victims family members only on 24th October 2002. The callous attitude of the Chautala Government towards the incident has certainly diminished the chance of Dalits getting any justice.

The problem of untouchability, discrimination and other human rights violation of Dalits have to be analysed in a proper perspective. How ironical it is that even after 55 years of independent governance and also 54 years of passing of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dalits are still struggling for freedom, dignity and justice. Day in and day out Dalits are humiliated, killed, Dalit women are raped, discriminated and various other human rights violated. Dalits are not safe in any part of this country and Haryana is not an exception in this regard. Between 1990 and 2000, a total of 3,72,716 cases were registered with the police nationwide as cognizable crimes against the Dalits. The actual figure could still be higher as there was distinct possibility of all the cases not being registered for various reasons.

Dalits have been the worst sufferers in the exploitative Hindu Social Order. Segregation and exploitation have been their fate. As opposed to the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, according to Dr. Ambedkar, the Hindu Social Order is based on the principles of graded inequality, fixity of occupations and fixation of people within their respective castes. Society at large remains exploitative, unfair and criminally unjust to them.

Educational and Economic Profile

The general condition of education among the Dalits is pitiable. It is a matter of common knowledge that the states have lagged behind in providing education to Dalits. As per 1991 Census the literacy rates among the Dalits was only 37.41%. And as far as the case of Haryana is concerned only 39.22% of Dalits are literate. The dropout rates among Dalits in Haryana at primary stage is 36.01%, at middle stage 59.64% and at secondary stage it is 78.12%.

According to the 1991 Census, 81% of Dalits population lives in rural areas and only 19% in urban areas. In Haryana, 46.56% of Dalits in rural areas live below poverty line whereas in the urban areas the figure is 23.58%. It is also a fact that 81% of Dalit population in Haryana owns less than half acre of land. Large under utilization of various development outlays have also been reported from Haryana and a host of other states.

Atrocities committed against Dalits in Haryana

5 cases of Murder, 33 cases of Hurt, 26 cases of Rape, 8 cases of Kidnapping and Abduction, 1 case of Dacoity, 1 case of Arson, 18 cases under SC and ST (POA) Act and 29 other offences were reported from Haryana during 1999. In the year 2000, 2 cases of Murder, 33 cases of Hurt, 20 cases of Rape, 6 cases of Kidnapping and Abduction, 2 cases of Arson, 1 case under PCR Act, 19 cases under SC and ST (POA) Act and 26 other offences were reported from Haryana.

Preliminary Findings:

Important points relating to the incident :

• As per the statement given by relatives of the victims two of the 5 victims were burnt and it was difficult to recognize their bodies. The relatives of the victims found dead bodies badly bruised and blood was splattered on the surface of the room in which the dead bodies were kept inside the Dulina Police Post.
  
• The police have not provided reports relating to Postmortem, Inquest Panchnama, Panchnama of the Place of incident to the relatives of the victim till 20th October 2002.
  
• The truck (TATA 407) belonging to one of the victims has also been burnt in the incident and is in the possession of the Jhajjar police. One tea stall in front of the Dulina Police Post was also burnt down.
  
• Till 20th October, no F.I.R. was lodged either against the Police or against the VHP activists.

Details of the Incident:

• 3 of the victims 2 from Badshahpur and 1 from Karnal were engaged in their traditional occupation of leather tanning. They also had government license for the same. Out of the other two victims one was a driver of the truck and the other the cleaner.
  
• On the date of incident, they had loaded the truck with dead animal skin and were going towards Karnal which is known for leather trade and industry. They took the route through Dulina Police Post, which is on the main road.
  
• Virender’s father Ratan Singh said that the story of skinning of a dead cow is just a cover-up. We have been doing leather tanning for three generations. There is no question of them skinning a cow by the side of the road. They worked on contracts, which they got from Municipality auctions. The truck the five Dalits were traveling in had hides and would never carry a carcass.
  
• Dayachand’s father Budhram alleges that as per his information, the police stopped the truck and asked them for a hefty bribe. When they refused to pay they were beaten up mercilessly and a case registered against them under the Cow Slaughter (Prevention) Act. Since one of them got seriously injured or perhaps killed, the police spread the story that they were killing a cow.
  
• The Police informed the relatives of the victims very late around three in the morning that there was an accident and the victims were admitted in the Jhajjar Civil Hospital.
  
• It is mentioned in the FIR lodged by the SHO that these 5 Dalits were attacked by a mob of around 4000-5000 who were returning back from Dusshera Fair. It is alleged that a group of people saw these 5 Dalits skinning a cow by the roadside and that is how information was passed on to others that some Muslims are engaged in cow killing.
  
• The police claims in the FIR that a lathi charge was carried out on the mob, but the mob beat them back. The police did not deem it necessary to explain why no tear gas shelling or even firing in the air were used to disperse the blood thirsty mob despite the fact that police reinforcement were brought from the Jhajjar Police Station and a host of police and civil officials were present at the Dulina Police Post at the time of the incident.
  
• The police claim that the five had bought a cow for Rs. 200 from a nearby village. Till date the police has not bothered to identify or locate the person who supposedly sold the cow.
  
• The family members of the victims informed the fact-finding team members that they do not do skinning of a dead cow in this manner. Infact, the local Panchayat allocates land in villages where it is done through well-established procedures.
  
• The spot where the victims were allegedly skinning the cow bores no mark of such act when the fact finding team visited there. No blood was found on the spot.
  
• Mirchi Baba who is the priest of the temple which is near the Dulina Police Post has been found missing since the time of the incident.
  
• Despite several eyewitnesses and officials admitting they were there, none has been named in the FIR.
  
• How the VHP activist came to know about the alleged cow killing has remained a mystery so far. The role of police is highly suspicious in this regard. Why the police have not arrested the National Vice President of the VHP Acharya Giriraj Kishore who has publicly justified the killing of five Dalits by saying that in the Hindu Shastras the life of a cow is more important than the life of a human being? Why again the police have not arrested the local VHP office bearers who have dared the police to take any action?

This ghastly killing of five innocent Dalits has once again established the fact that the life, dignity, honour and human rights of Dalits have always remained in danger. Dulina is not the first incident of this kind and certainly will not remain the last one. Yes, there was a method in the madness i.e. the alleged nexus between the police and the VHP activists. Corrective actions must be taken sooner than latter. The silence of larger civil society bears a testimony to their complicity as far as the violation of human rights of Dalits are concerned.

Our demands

• CBI inquiry to probe the complicity of police and other officials in the killing of five innocent Dalits at Dulina.
  
• All the police officials, personnel and administrative officers present at the site of incident should be immediately put under suspension pending this CBI enquiry.
  
• An FIR should be lodged against the culprits i.e. the police and others under the provisions of SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
  
• The relevant sections 3(1) (VIII), (IX) and (X) of the SC/ST POA Act – 1989 should be added in the FIR lodged by the SHO-Jhajjar against the accused.
  
• Under Section 4 of the SC/ST POA Act – 1989, the police officials and other Bureaucrats should be booked for the negligence of their duty.
  
• In addition to compensation amount announced by the Chief Minster of Haryana, other relief should be provided to the victim’s family as per the provisions made under SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995.
  
• The State Government should immediately act under rule 8, 9, 10, 16 and 17 of the SC/ST P.O.A. of rule 1995 and also initiate action against the erring officials under section 3 (1) (VIII) and section 2 (VII) of the same act.
  
• The State Government should order for a Judicial inquiry by a sitting judge.

Date: October 31, 2002
Place: New Delhi

Report of Fact-Finding Team comprising: Members of the Fact Finding Team
Dr. Vimal Thorat
Mr. Sudesh Tanwar
Ms. Rajni Tilak
Dr. Mukesh Manas
Ms. Manjula Pradeep
Dr. Narendra Kumar
Mr. S.P. Chauhan
Dr. Umakant

Authors of this report can be contacted at:
[email protected]
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