Murder in Uttarakhand:
Dalits' Plight
The PUCL has received
a letter from Ms. Suvarnaa, author and journalist, Ahmedabad. She had recently
toured parts of Uttarakhand between May 13, 2000 and May 31, 2000. She sent
a case along with her letter with a request to send it to the NHRC, since UP
does not have a State Human Rights Commission.
While moving from village to village she studied the socio-economic problems
of the people and the state of development in the area. While in Bageshwar she
happened to come across a Dalit, Shri Chandra Ram of village Kanthali Kote,
Tahsil Kapkote, District Bageshwar. Shri Chandra Ram reported to her that his
son, Ramesh Ram, was murdered and the family was terrorized so much that the
family had to migrate to another village. We are giving below the English translation
of the written account that the father of the murdered boy gave to Ms. Suvarnaa:
"My son, Ramesh Ram, student of class IV, of the village school of Kanthali
Kote went to take an examination in good-health on May 7, 1999. While returning
from this school he was called by one Bahadur Singh, a shop-keeper, to his shop.
Pravin Singh and Rajendra Singh were also sitting there. Bahadur Singh asked
Ramesh Ram to eat a preparation of boiled potatoes. Ramesh Ram told him that
he did not eat potatoes, and secondly, he did not have money. On the insistence
of Bahadur Singh he ate two plates with some Chatni. After that Pravin Singh
and Rajendra Singh beat him up and dragged him to the fields near-by and left
him there. When the child did not reach home till evening his grand- mother,
Kamee Devi, went to look for him. About 200 meters away, she saw him writhing
in a field. Foam was oozing out of his mouth. She brought him home and he related
to her the whole episode and asked her to pay the price of two plates of potatoes
to Bahadur Singh. Chandra Ram, the father of Ramesh Ram, returned home late
at night. The condition of his son deteriorated and on the morning of May 8
the family brought him to Bageshwar hospital. He was given two bottles of glucose.
But he could not be saved. The post-mortem of the body and the filing of the
FIR took two days and the family stayed at Bageshwar. (The FIR number is 323/328/304/Bha.Da.Vi/3(1)(X)/SC/ST
Act 1999 was registered on 8.5.1999). Since the revenue police was on strike,
the FIR was registered with the police station".
Thereafter the terrorized family went to village Bilagnasera, about 2 kms from
the district headquarters and has been living there since then. Chandra Ram
told Ms Suvarnaa, "I came to know on 29.12.1999 that my hut where I lived
in Kanthali Kote, has been ransacked. I went there and saw that the doors were
broken open and my tools of iron smithy, household goods, food grain, and ownership
papers were missing. I was told by one Shri Pratap Ram that this was done by
my neighbour, one Pratap Singh. I reported this second incident to the SDM of
Kapkote on December 30, 1999".
The family is still living on the roadside, 20 kms away from their home in village
Bilagnasera. The family comprises 5 children, one deaf and dumb sister, old
mother, and brother's family. In the month of May one accused was arrested,
others are still roaming free. The family is afraid of them.
(The PUCL has sent the case to the Chairperson of the Commission with
the request to direct the concerned authorities to provide protection to this
Dalit family of Shri Chandra Ram so that they may go back home and repair the
house structure. A letter from the Commission to the concerned district authorities
can expedite the investigations of the case also. -- General Secretary)
(PUCL Bulletin, August 2000)