Kherlanji massacre

The Kherlanji massacre (or Khairlanji massacre) refers to the 2006 lynching-style murders of a Dalit family by members of the Kunbi "backward caste". The killings took place in a small village in India named Khairlanji, located in the Bhandara district of the state of Maharashtra. On September 29, 2006, four members of the Bhotmange family belonging to the Dalit underclass were slaughtered in Khairlanji, a small village in Bhandara district of Maharashtra. The women of the family, Surekha and Priyanka, were paraded naked in public, before being murdered.^[1] The criminal act was allegedly carried out by assailants from the Kunbi^[2] caste (classified as Other Backward Castes^[3] by Government of India) for "opposing" the requisition of their field to have a road built over it. Initial reports suggested that the women were allegedly gang-raped before being murdered. Though CBI investigations revealed that the women were not raped,^[4] there are allegations of bribery^[5] of doctors who performed post-mortem, and corruption.

There were allegations that the local police shielded the alleged perpetrators in the ongoing investigation. A government report on the killings, prepared by the social justice department and YASHADA – the state academy of developmental administration, has implicated top police officers, doctors and even a BJP Member of the Legislative Assembly, Madhukar Kukade, in an alleged coverup and hindering the investigations. Kukade has denied these charges, saying that he has not even been in Kherlanji in months. The state Home Minister R R Patil admitted to initial lapses in police investigation and said that five policemen suspended in killings have been sacked.^[6] In December 2006, CBI filed a chargesheet against 11 persons under charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly with deadly weapons and outraging the modesty of women. CBI also said that it will investigate the role of the 36 people under detention.^[4]

The media coverage of the incident was initially weak, but picked up momentum after an investigative feature article in The Times of India provided the first mainstream, in depth coverage of the massacre ^[7]. The Indian blogosphere has responded significantly, with thousands of bloggers expressing outrage at the media for "poor coverage" of the incident. A famous expatriate Indians' blog posts:

"As coverage of India in the mainstream media has moved on from snake-charmers to Bollywood and now to its economic strengths; it’s own politicians and foreign journalists gloss over the fact that deep in the heartlands there remain serious social problems".

In September 2008, six people were awarded death sentence for the crime.^[8]

Protests

Protests against the killings in the Kherlanji village have been continuing in various parts of Maharashtra. On November 19, 2006, over 4,000 Dalits gathered at the Azad maidan in Mumbai to protest against the Khairlanji incident.^[9] On November 23, 2006, several members of the Dalit community in the nearby district of Chandrapur staged a protest regarding this incident.The protesters allegedly turned violent and pelted stones. The police had to resort to baton charging to control the situation. Dalit leaders, however, denied that they had sparked the violence and that they were "protesting in peace".

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 600,000 to the next of kin of the victims' family, and housing and job to the affected family members. He also assured that his government would give an additional Rs 200,000 to them from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra

In November-December 2006, the desecration of a Ambedkar statue in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) triggered off violent protests by Dalits in Maharashtra. Several people, including the Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh^[10] and the Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy^[11] remarked that the protests were fuelled by the Khairlanji killings. ^[12][13]

2008 September Verdict by the Bhandara court

The verdict in the 2006 Khairlanji court case was announced on 15 September 2008. Bhandara Sessions court has held eight people guilty of murder and acquitted three.

List of people held guilty of murder:

• Gopal Sakru Binjewar
• Sakru Binjewar
• Shatrughna Dhande
• Vishwanath Dhande
• Prabhakar Mandlekar
• Jagdish Mandlekar
• Ramu Dhande
• Shishupal Dhande

List of acquitted people:

• Mahipal Dhande
• Dharmpal Dhande
• Purshottam Titirmare

The first ad-hoc sessions judge, S S Dass, had heard the arguments of prosecution and defence on the quantum of punishment and had fixed September 24 for his pronouncement. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had made a forceful plea for capital punishment to all the convicts. Defence lawyers Sudip Jaiswal and Neeraj Khandewale pleaded for leniency in view of the act committed in the heat of the moment and clean past record of the convicts.

On September 24, six people were awarded death sentence, while two others were given life imprisonment.^[8]. They have decided to appeal this decision and hence it is expected to take longer time to get the final verdict.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ "Dalit blood on village square". Frontline. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=20061201004713000.htm&date=fl2323/&prd=fline&. Retrieved on 2006-12-10. 
3. ^ "Age old rivalry behind Khairlanji violence". NDTV. http://origin.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Age+old+rivalry+behind+Khairlanji+violence&id=96718&category=National. Retrieved on 2006-12-10. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Khairlanji case: 11 chargesheeted". IBN Live. 2006-12-27. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/khairlanji-case-11-chargesheeted/top/29574-3.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-27. 
5. ^ "INDIA OUTRAGED: DALITS, LIKE FLIES TO FEUDAL LORDS". Tehelka. 2006-04-11. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main22.asp?filename=Ne111106Dalits_like.asp. 
6. ^ [2]
7. ^ [3]
8. ^ ^{a b} Economic Times
9. ^ "Dalit rally to protest Khairlanji massacre". IBN Live. 2006-11-20. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/dalit-rally-to-protest-khairlanji-massacre/26604-3.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-01. 
10. ^ "Situation in Mumbai, state back to normal". The Times of India. 2006-12-02. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/Situation_in_Mumbai_state_back_to_normal/articleshow/678044.cms. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. 
11. ^ "Maharashtra: Dalit anger leaves 4 dead, 60 injured". Rediff.com. 2006-11-30. http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/nov/30statue.htm. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. 
12. ^ "Khairlanji to Kanpur". The Indian Express. 2006-12-02. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/17707.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-02. 
13. ^ "Irrational violence: A result of dalit marginalisation". The Economic Times. 2006-12-02. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/676915.cms. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.