Relatives lynch Dalit widow; khap panchayat fines minor accused

A motley group of people sit as silent spectators, shooting furtive glances at strangers who enter the Regar mohalla, a settlement of 200 Dalit families in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

Occasionally, they gaze at the snaking lane in front of them, where a 40-year-old mother-oftwo was stripped naked and paraded after being branded as a witch on the night of August 2.

Kanya Devi died the next day in Kadera village, her broken body bearing mute testament to the torture that she went through, which are too inhuman to be detailed here.

“We haven’t seen anything. We sleep early after coming back from work,” is all that neighbours say, when asked.

The police action taken in the case reflects the numerous cons of a flawed system. The FIR of the case was registered on Sunday against four people.

The accused include two teenaged girls, an acquaintance and a man who was the nephew of Devi’s husband.A notice saying that Chitar Regar’s family is below poverty level is painted on the entrance of a house in which the two siblings mourn the loss of both their parents within a month. “I was called on the morning of August 3 and after reaching Devi’s home, I found that she was grievously injured. Upon enquiring, the family of her husband’s elder brother told me she fell on the oven while preparing tea,” said Uttam Kumar Mirdha, a local compounder. By the time news reached Maya, Kanya Devi’s daughter, she had already passed away. What followed was a hurried funeral and a meeting of a khap panchayat, which imposed a fine on the accused for their crimes.