3 deaths in a Dalit family, Madhya Pradesh BJP tries to control damage

Khurai: The BJP regime in Madhya Pradesh is facing serious questions over the state’s law and order after three members of a Dalit family were each killed in separate incidents over the past year with the authorities unable to enable protection to them, The Indian Express reported.

The incidents are back in limelight after Rahul Gandhi spoke to the remaining members of the family over phone on Tuesday prompting the Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to announce a police outpost in the village, as the local police station is around 15 kilometres away.

Mohan Yadav took time off the campaign trail to visit the family, promising safety.

However the promise came quite belatedly as the family lost its first member, an 18-year-old man, in August 2023 after members of the local Thakur and Muslim communities reportedly killed him for filing a case over alleged assault on his sister.

Even as the family complained of pressure from accused to withdraw case, police arrested nine identified as Vikram Thakur, Vijay Thakur, Azad Thakur, Komal Thakur, Lalu Khan, Ismail Khan, Golu Soni, Napis Khan and Wahid Khan.

A few months later on May 25 the 18-year-old’s uncle who witnessed the murder was stabbed to death as he came out to buy groceries.

Day after this incident, the 18-year-old’s sister , the complainant in the 2019 case, died after allegedly falling out of the ambulance that was carrying the body of the uncle.

The family claimed that the security provided to family after the 18-year-old’s death was removed recently, emboldening the accused.

However one of the two security officers stationed outside the family’s home Wednesday said that “It is impossible to protect a family for a lifetime.”

Meanwhile, a family member was quoted as saying: “My whole family was killed. The police were here for eight months, yet they could not secure the area. As soon as elections approached, our security was removed. Three CCTV cameras installed outside our house don’t work. Why?”

Family included four siblings and two of them are dead and other two surviving brothers have dropped out of school and work as labourers earning Rs 200-300 per day.

They now live in a two-room house on the outskirts of the village, according to the report.

The woman, aged 21, managed to enroll in a college and wanted to become a lawyer.

She was the only person in the family ever to try higher studies and stayed at a rented accommodation to further her education.

“No one in our family has ever gone to college. My daughter was brave, intelligent and articulate. She got admission, did the documentation, found a place to stay, all on her own. She wanted to be a lawyer,” her mother was quoted as saying.