Kherlanji massacre

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The Kherlanji massacre (or Khairlanji massacre) refers to the lynching-style murders of a Dalit family by members of Kunbi OBC caste. The killings that took place in 2006 in a small village in India named Kherlanji, located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra.

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[edit] The incident

On September 29, 2006, four members of the Bhotmange family belonging to the Dalit underclass were slaughtered in Kherlanji, a small village in Bhandara district of Maharashtra. The women of the family, Surekha and Priyanka, were paraded naked in public, before being murdered[1]. The criminal act was allegedly carried out by assailants from the Kunbi[1] caste (classified as Other Backward Castes[2] by Government of India) for "opposing" the requisition of their field to have a road built over it.

Some initial reports suggested that the women were allegedly gang-raped before being murdered. Though, CBI investigations revealed that the women were not raped,[3] there are allegations of bribery[4] (of doctors who performed post-mortem) and corruption.

[edit] Allegations of obstruction of justice

There were allegations of the local police shielding the alleged perpetrators in the ongoing investigation. A government report on the killings, prepared by the social justice department and YASHADA – the state academy of developmental administration, has implicated top police officers, doctors and even a BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly, Madhukar Kukade, in an alleged coverup and hindering the investigations. Kukade has denied these charges, saying that he has not even been in Kherlanji in months. The state Home Minister R R Patil admitted to initial lapses in police investigation and said that five policemen suspended in killings have been sacked[2].

In December 2006, CBI filed a chargesheet against 11 persons under charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly with deadly weapons and outraging the modesty of women. CBI also said that it will investigate the role of the 36 people under detention.[3]

[edit] Media coverage

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The media coverage of this incident was initially weak, but has picked up momentum. The Indian blogosphere has responded significantly, with thousands of bloggers expressing outrage at the media for "poor coverage" of the incident. A famous expatriate Indians' blog posts:

"As coverage of India in the mainstream media has moved on from snake-charmers to Bollywood and now to its economic strengths; it’s own politicians and foreign journalists gloss over the fact that deep in the heartlands there remain serious social problems".

Finally on Dec 27th 2007 in a front page story in the Wall Street Journal by Yaroslav Trofimov the full story was told. According to the story, the case is now under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's equivalent of the United States FBI.

[edit] Compensation for the victims

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 600,000 to the next of kin of the victims' family, and housing and job to the affected family members. He also assured that his government would give an additional Rs 200,000 to them from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

[edit] Protests

Protests against the killings in the Kherlanji village have been continuing in various parts of Maharashtra.

On November 19, 2006, over 4,000 Dalits gathered at the Azad maidan in Mumbai to protest against the Khairlanji incident.[5] On November 23, 2006, several members of the Dalit community in the nearby district of Chandrapur staged a protest regarding this incident.The protesters allegedly turned violent and pelted stones. The police had to resort to baton charging to control the situation. Dalit leaders, however, denied that they had sparked the violence and that they were "protesting in peace".

[edit] 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra

Main article: 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra

In November-December 2006, the desecration of a Ambedkar statue in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) triggered off violent protests by Dalits in Maharashtra. Several people, including the Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh[6] and the Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy[7] remarked that the protests were fuelled by the Khairlanji killings.[8][9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dalit blood on village square. Frontline. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  2. ^ Age old rivalry behind Khairlanji violence. NDTV. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  3. ^ a b Khairlanji case: 11 chargesheeted. IBN Live (2006-12-27). Retrieved on 2006-12-27.
  4. ^ INDIA OUTRAGED: DALITS, LIKE FLIES TO FEUDAL LORDS. Tehelka (2006-04-11).
  5. ^ "Dalit rally to protest Khairlanji massacre", IBN Live, 2006-11-20. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. 
  6. ^ "Situation in Mumbai, state back to normal", The Times of India, 2006-12-02. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. 
  7. ^ "Maharashtra: Dalit anger leaves 4 dead, 60 injured", Rediff.com, 2006-11-30. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. 
  8. ^ Khairlanji to Kanpur. The Indian Express (2006-12-02). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
  9. ^ Irrational violence: A result of dalit marginalisation. The Economic Times (2006-12-02). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.

[edit] External links