Meanwhile, a Dalit family’s quest for justice continues

17YEAROLD NITIN AAGE WAS MURDERED IN 2014 FOR ALLEGEDLY TALKING TO AN UPPER CASTE MARATHA GIRL

PUNE: The death sentence awarded to three men for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Ahmednagar’s Kopardi village in Maharashtra on Wednesday brought a sense of closure to the teenager’s family.

The verdict came within 16 months of the crime, a good pace in a painfully slow judicial system. But just a week ago, another family’s quest for justice in Ahmednagar district was dealt a blow when all the nine men accused of murdering 17-year-old Nitin Aage were acquitted for want of evidence.

“The Kopardi judgment is good and I welcome it. People’s faith in judiciary will strengthen further if the process is expedited in other cases too,” prominent Dalit writer Raosaheb Kasbe told Hindustan Times a few hours after the Kopardi verdict.

The largest district in Maharashtra, Ahmednagar is a part of the sugar-cane belt and has a history of caste strife.

The Kopardi victim was an upper caste Maratha and the rapists Dalits. Aage was a Dalit and all the nine accused Marathas.

Marathas, who are the land owners, account for 40% of the district’s population of 4.5 million, while 21% of the people are scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, many of whom work the fields for the Marathas.

The Kopardi case was keenly followed as it sparked caste protests. Marathas held marches for justice while Dalits faced violence in some parts of the state.

Aage was murdered on April 28, 2014 in Kharda village for allegedly talking to a Maratha girl. His body was found hanging from a tree, the first information report (FIR) said.

The post mortem report revealed the scale of violence. Aage’s head and private parts had burn injuries and his face was smashed. The girl’s brother, uncle and seven other men were arrested on charges of murder and under the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes (prevention of atrocities) act.

But On November 23, an Ahmednagar court acquitted all the nine for lack of evidence after 16 of the 26 witnesses turned hostile. “I don’t know what to do. I am at a complete loss,” Aage’s father, Raju, said after the verdict.