Kuchaman (Didwana): Sharda Meghwal lovingly prepared a thali for Rakhi celebrations, singing folk songs with fellow women at her parent’s house in Birdiya village in Rajasthan’s Didwana district. In the thali, she placed raw rice, haldi, vermillion, a pack of chocolates, and two rakhis for her brother Raju and cousin Chunni, who were getting ready for a mela in a neighbouring village. “They told me they would let me tie rakhi on the next day,” she says, even as the family asked them not to go. Those rakhis now remain untouched in her home.
Both Chunni (21) and Raju (22), who were Dalits, were brutally murdered late at night on 28 August, allegedly by a group of men from the Jat community. Their friend, Krishen Lal, survived the attack and is currently being treated at Jaipur’s Chirayu Hospital.
This horrific incident is the latest in a series of atrocities against Dalits reported in Rajasthan. Just a week ago, a 15-year-old student was found dead in Kotputli, and his school was accused of using caste-based slurs against him. The Centre had told Parliament in March that Rajasthan was third in reported crimes against Dalits in the country — after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — since 2018. Rajasthan recorded more than 25,000 cases of attacks and atrocities against Dalits during this period.
The murders have sparked widespread protests in a society where the fabric of daily life is driven by caste. And it’s threatening to become a political storm in Rajasthan, which is set to go to polls in November. The BJP has called out the Ashok Gehlot government for the increasing number of caste-related crimes and instances of rape.
Villagers have been sitting on a five-day-long dharna in front of the police station in nearby Kochuman city, demanding justice. Already, prominent political figures from parties of all colours—blue, saffron, and green—have descended on the village to question the lack of arrests in the case.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda has constituted a team of four Members of Parliament to oversee the developments and submit a report to the party high command. Bhim Army, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) have also sent representatives to sit with the protesters. Some party members of Bhim Army are threatening to go on hunger strike.
Meanwhile, the police say that so far their investigations do not show that it was a caste-related crime, and no arrests have been made though four have been detained.
“Police is deliberately not arresting the perpetrators because it is under pressure by the Rajasthan government, which is shielding the accused,” tweeted Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad. Cabinet minister Govind Ram Meghwal reached the protest site Friday where he denied these accusations.
A core committee has been made comprising members of all parties present at the scene, whose members deliver fiery speeches and condemn the Gehlot government for its inability to control caste crimes.
Protesters, fighting for the dignity of Dalit bodies, emphasise that such a heinous crime could only be inflicted by upper castes upon lower-caste victims. They have three demands: Rs 1 crore ex gratia as well as compensation for Lal’s family, a CBI inquiry into the incident, and a government job for family members.
“Blood for blood,” says Sharda, deeply traumatised by photographs of her brothers’ mutilated bodies, repeatedly run over by cars. Her brother was so badly crushed that his hand was found 20 metres away from his body.
“I worked all my life in the police services, and I have never seen a murder so brutal,” said former DGP UP Police and Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal. He read out statistics of crimes against women and Dalits in Rajasthan since the Congress came into power, dubbing Rajasthan the ‘most dangerous state’ and ‘rape capital’ of the country.
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Anger over the brutality
Sharda was kept in the dark about Chunni‘s fate for three days until she borrowed a friend’s phone and saw the horrifying image of her brother’s mutilated body lying in the sand.
“The way they were killed, the way they were run over multiple times… nobody would dare touch an upper caste body like this,” says Pooja Meghwal, Chunni and Raju’s sister–in-law.
Everyone is in mourning in Meghwal’s village Bidiyad, located in the newly formed Didwana district of Rajasthan. Shops are shut and there’s no activity in the village.
Protesters have refused to allow the state conduct post-mortem on the bodies, insisting that justice must be served well before the government can touch their sons.
There’s simmering anger within the community regarding the state in which their young members were discovered. “They had crushed their bodies into the ground,” said Babulal, Krishen’s uncle and one of the first to reach the accident site. “Chunni’s body was lying all over the place. His hands and legs had been separated,” he says.
Grisly photos from the crime scene are circulating on WhatsApp groups. Some community members reportedly threw up, while others have fainted. “I haven’t slept in four days,” one of the aunts of Raju and Chunni said, haunted by the condition in which her were found.
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Didwana is a politically important district, freshly carved out from Nagaur that boasts ten assembly seats and 26 lakh voters according to the electoral roll as of 5 January 2023. Elections in Rajasthan are due in November.
The ongoing dharna has caught the attention of all major political parties in Rajasthan. A delegation of four BJP MPs—Brij Lal, Kanta Kardam, Ranjita Kohli, and Sikander Kumar—reached the protest site on 1 September to console the grieving family members. Cameras flashed as female parliamentarians consoled Asha Meghwal, Raju and Chunni’s cousin.
The BJP delegation was welcomed by a Bhim Army member acting as the main emcee at the site, who, despite differences, acknowledged their support. “We’re not big fans of you. But since you’ve come here to wipe our tears of blood, we welcome your support,” he said to the scowling BJP delegation.
As word spread about Chandra Shekhar Azad’s arrival, the crowd grew impatient in wait but had to contend itself with tweets from ‘Raavan’.
Narayan Beniwal of RLP, a Jaat leader, has been at the protest site for three days, while others deliver speeches and leave. “I don’t know what has happened to Rajasthan that caste atrocities have increased, but members of all 36 castes are sitting here in support of the family. We’re all together,” he said.
Speakers from BSP and Bhim Army passionately reinforce their Dalit identity, urging their fellow community members not to forget the evils of casteism. “You’re Dalit. You’re poor. This is why such an atrocity happens with your sons. Would this happen to a rich kid? Would he have to wait for justice? No. Remember that. Remember Babasaheb’s Constitution is in danger,” Shoaib Khan, a spokesperson for Bhim Army, thundered into the mic.
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‘No caste angle’
So far, the police say they have not discovered any personal enmity or evidence of caste-based hate crime in its investigation. Sixteen people have been identified by the district police, with four of them detained. Three cars linked to the incident have also been seized, and blood stains have been sent for forensic analysis. However, the police say they have been unable to make arrests due to the family’s refusal to permit a post-mortem examination.
Superintendent of Police Praveen Nayak said the three Raju, Chunni, and Krishen were attacked by goons who were seeking to assault another person who had been demanding Rs 80,000 from one Suresh Ranwa.
According to the FIR, on 28 August, the three victims, all childhood friends who were meeting after a long time, planned to attend a fair in a nearby village called Maulasar. All three worked as marble setters in different parts of the country and had come home for Rakhi celebrations.
Meanwhile, Ranwa and his group were returning from Lucknow and had received a phone call from another relative demanding money and issuing threats. Around the same time, the three Meghwal men arrived at a local dhaba called Hotel Lion on their bike, 8 km from Kuchawan city. Ranwa and his group presumed them to be working for their adversary.
“It just so happens that the perpetrators are of the Jat community while the victims are Dalits. They didn’t know each other,” the SP told ThePrint.
A viral CCTV footage shows the three encountering about around 20 at the dhaba, all affiliated with Ranwa’s group, and trying to take a U-turn but being intercepted by the group, which demanded to know their identity.
“Krishen told me they mentioned their names to the goons and then fled the scene fearing violence,” Babulal, who has lodged the police complaint, told ThePrint. The three men were chased in three cars and run over on a sandy plot just a kilometre away from Hotel Lion.
The FIR documents the perpetrators running over the three men on a bike over and over again, before leaving the scene. The FIR has been lodged against unknown persons who have been booked under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 143 (unlawful assembly). Relevant provisions under the SC/ST Act could be added once arrests are made, SP Nayak said.
Vikram Joya, a Bhim Army member, accuses the police of complacency. “What were they doing if the goons were just casually standing outside dhabas in an intimidating manner, ready for a gangwar?” he asked.
When Krishen was lying in the sand, he managed to call for help and use his phone’s torch to attract passers-by, who helped him contact his family members. An eyewitness, who requested anonymity, said that it took 15 attempts to reach his family.
The SP revealed that, apart from one, none of the suspects had a criminal record. The absence of prior enmity or a criminal history has led villagers to further question the brutality of the crime.
As of now, the police have not made any arrests, fuelling suspicions that the perpetrators were being shielded by the government.
“We can’t make arrests without identifying the cause of deaths. That’s the standard procedure,” SP Nayak said.
Efforts by the cabinet minister to negotiate with the protesters to allow a post-mortem examination have been unsuccessful.
Family members and villagers assert that the three victims were too young to have had enemies, and there is currently no tension between the Jats and the Meghwals in the area. “We don’t have any qualms against a particular community, we just want justice,” said Babulal.
At the village, Raju’s mother still doesn’t know that he’s dead. “We need the money, so we can shift him to a better hospital,” she says, unaware of her young son’s demise. About a kilometre away from her house, her sister-in-law’s family mourn both sons. “You can’t bring my brothers back. At least bring them justice,” a shivering and crying Sharda says. As relatives of her family bring out perfectly packed rakhis from her room, she puts her head in her hands and breaks into sobs.
(Edited by Prashant)