Mirchpur case: Cops told to arrest accused by Sept 5
HISAR: An uneasy calm prevailed at the Mirchpur village on Monday as the police met village elders of the Jat community to exhort them to give up those convicted in the caste violence case of 2010. The Delhi HC had sentenced 12 persons to life imprisonment on August 24 for a 2010 incident wherein a group of villagers belonging to upper caste had allegedly torched over a dozen houses belonging to Dalits.
HISAR: An uneasy calm prevailed at the Mirchpur village on Monday as the police met village elders of the Jat community to exhort them to give up those convicted in the caste violence case of 2010.
The Delhi High Court had sentenced 12 persons to life imprisonment on August 24, in an April 21, 2010 incident that took place in the village a group of villagers belonging to upper caste had allegedly torched over a dozen houses belonging to Dalits, in which 17-year-old physicallychallenged girl and her aged father Tara Chand were charred to death.
The trigger for the mayhem was said to be a dispute between upper caste men and a Dalit man over a barking dog.
As the high court’s deadline for the convicts to surrender ended on September 1, the court has now issued arrest warrants against them and directed the Haryana Police to nab the convicts before September 5. Rajat Kalsan, advocate of the victims, said, “Not even a single one of them surrendered, hence the Delhi High Court has directed the police to arrest them all by September 5.”
A Dalit resident of the village, requesting anonymity said, “Earlier, all those convicted could be seen in the village, but soon after the verdict came out, all of them disappeared.”
He further said that over 40 Dalit children have fled the village since the incident, fearing for their lives. A family also reached Hisar at Dalit leader Vedpal Tanwar’s farmhouse, seeking refuge, he said. “Though the village is constantly under police supervision, yet the Dalit families are not free from fear,” he added.
Sources in the village said almost all the convicts are the only breadwinners of their families and they may move the Supreme Court against the high court verdict.
Meanwhile, sources in the police said the Mirchpur police post SHO, Ranbir Singh, and Narnaund police station SHO Sadhu Ram called a meeting of the elders at the police post to enquire about the whereabouts of the convicts.
When some mediapersons reached the police post to talk to the elders, they refused to talk to them and even maintained distance. Hansi SP Vijender Vij said, “Teams are working round the clock. If they don’t surrender, the police will take appropriate action to comply with the high court orders.”
HC ORDER ON AUG 24
Advocate Rajat Kalsan said the Delhi High Court had convicted 33 persons in the case and sentenced 12 to life imprisonment. Out of them, three are in jail while nine are still at large. Those convicted were identified as Pawan, Kulwinder, Karanveer, Pradeep, Rajpal, Pradeep, Ranbir, Jogel, Sanjay, Satyawaan, Ramphal and Rajender.
DEMANDS FOR VICTIMS
A key witness in the case, Satyawan Singh, said, “The BJP government had announced land for the victims. We want that the land be provided soon without any hassles and with proper facilities. Besides, we also seek a government job to make ends meet.”