During the protests on April 2 when millions of Dalits took to the streets against the dilution of laws which protected them from upper caste violence, many people died in the clashes that ensued.
An investigation by NDTV has revealed that a significant number of Dalits were killed by by upper castes that day.
Eleven people were killed during the protests triggered by the Supreme Court making changes to the SC/ST (Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes) Act. Eight were killed just in the Gwalior-Bhind-Morena region on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
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An investigation by the news channel into seven deaths has revealed that xix of them were Dalits and in almost every case, the killers belonged to the upper caste.
Shockingly, not a single arrest has been made by the police yet.
Based on police records, two Dalit men – Pradeep, 22, and Akash Jatav, 15 – were shot dead by a group of upper caste men in separate incidents in Mehgaon and Bhind.
Pradeep, a diploma holder from a technical institute or ITI in Gwalior, had gone to the market in Mehgaon to take part in the Dalit protests when he was shot.
The First Information Report (FIR) says Sonu Baishandar, Monu and Ballu Rathore, all upper caste men, fired at him from a roof. The same men are named in the FIR on the killing of Akash Jatav.
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Dashrath Jatav, 40, whose body was found the day after the protests in a farm in Bhind, was beaten to death by upper caste men, his family says.
“He (Dashrath) participated in the rally with my aunt when stone pelting started. The Thakurs dragged and killed him,” his nephew Neeraj Narwaria told NDTV.
One Deepak Jatav, who was killed in Gawalior, remains a mystery.
The death of Deepak Jatav, who ran a tea stall in Gwalior, is still a mystery. His father says that the 22-year old was not even protesting. Three bullets hit him when while he was standing near his tea stall.
“They (police) told me he was killed by .12 or .13 bore bullet. I do not know the difference,” Mohan Jatav, Deepak’s father told NDTV. Deepak was cremated by the police before the family could take the body.
Another Dalit, Rakesh Jatav, a 40-year-old daily wage worker who died of a bullet wound in Bhind.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, at least 12 people were injured in Bihar, section 144 was imposed in Bhopal, schools were closed in various parts of Uttar Pradesh. Internet services were suspended in many districts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
