They had nothing to do with protests: Relatives of victims
families of two men killed in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior during Monday’s violence that erupted during a shutdown called by Dalit organisations said on Wednesday they were ordinary people out to protect their own.
“Mera beta shaheed ho gaya apne logon ki raksha karte hue (My son was martyred while protecting his own people),” Draupadi Mahor said on Wednesday.
Her 22-year-old son Deepak was shot thrice and died on the spot in Thatipur area of Gwalior on Monday during the protests by Dalit groups – angered over an alleged dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, across Madhya Pradesh and several other states.
Thatipur, the epicentre of the violence, has a big Dalit settlement with upper castes living across the road.
Deepak was among the eight people killed in Madhya Pradesh – four in Gwalior, three in Bhind and one in Morena – that saw the worst of clashes during the nationwide strike.
“My son was not among the protesters but when the upper caste people started firing at our people, my son came out to protect our people, family and cattle. He died while saving us,” a grieving Draupadi said at their tworoom mud house in the city’s Galla Kothar area.
Deepak’s elder brother Sachin said he saw that their bull had been shot and ran to save the cow standing near it and was hit by a bullet in his hand. Deepak then locked them inside their home and went to look for their father.
“After some time, a man came to our house to inform that Deepak was lying on the road. We rushed there to find him lying in a pool of blood. We dragged his body and put in a handcart to take him to a private hospital where the doctor referred him to a government hospital. There, the doctor declared him brought dead,” Sachin said.
His father Mohan said that day, Deepak woke up early to stop him from opening his tea stall due to the shutdown. He said Deepak told him they should support the community but not participate in any rally. “At around 9.30 am, the protests intensified. We heard slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Maaro maaro in logon ko’. I came out to see what was happening. People were shooting from both sides. Police shot a tear gas. I lost my way coming home as I was not able to see properly,” Mohan said.
GWALIOR:The