Patna, Jan 15 (IANS) Family members of the Dalits who were killed in 1999 in Bihar's Arwal district, allegedly by the outlawed, upper -caste militia Ranvir Sena men, are disheartened and devastated over the release of all the accused.
Etwaria Devi, in her late 50s, lost her husband Ganga Paswan and another relative Nanhu Paswan in the massacre of 22 Dalits Jan 25, 1999, at Shankar Bigha village. A court Tuesday acquitted 24 people of the massacre, citing lack of evidence. The surviving family members are not only upset and sad over the verdict, they are also angry and feel there is nobody to do them justice.
"There is no one to do justice to the poor like us. We have only pain and misery in our life," said Etwaria Devi in a choked voice.
Another resident of the village, Rajmani Devi, whose husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were killed in the massacre, said: "Who cares for justice to the poor? We have lost hope. It is bad news for us that all accused were acquitted."
Both of them said they have no hope left as money and muscle power of the powerful feudal forces were responsible for the gruesome incident.
Lakshman Ram, a village elderly, said most of the villagers were unhappy and angry over the court acquittal.
"The villagers are not ready to accept that the accused have been let off...," said villager Ram, who also had lost a relative.
He also blamed the police and the state government for the acquittals. "The police did not file a strong chargesheet with solid evidence against them...," he claimed.
All the Dalit victims were landless agricultural workers.
Shankar Bigha is located near Lakshmanpur-Bathe where the Ranvir Sena killed 61 agricultural workers belonging to backward communities in December 1997.
This is the fifth major acquittal in a massacre case in the state.
In 2012, the high court acquitted 23 accused of Bathani Tola massacre of 1996 in which 21 Dalits were killed.
On Oct 9, 2013, the Patna High Court acquitted 26 accused of the Lakshmanpur-Bathe massacre of 1997.
On July 3, 2013, the high court acquitted nine of the 10 accused in the Miyanpur massacre case of 2000 in which the Ranvir Sena men allegedly killed 32 people in Aurangabad.
On March 1, 2013, the high court acquitted 11 convicted accused in the Nagari Bazaar massacre case in which 10 CPI-ML supporters, mostly Dalits, were killed in Bhojpur district in 1998.
Covid-19: Got another powerful drug of Corona! The company asked for permission to use
Corona infection cases are increasing rapidly worldwide, including in India and the United States
Gadar 2 Box Office Weekend Collection: Bollywood superstar Sunny Deol's Gaddi is not running at t
This time a large area of North India is yearning for rain. However, in the meantime, the M
Ireland can qualify for knock-outs: Porterfield
Nelson (New Zealand), Feb 16 (IANS) Ireland captain Willi
Sujeeth to direct Prabhas in action-thriller
Chennai, Feb 10 (IANS) Director Sujeeth, who struck gold with last year's Telugu directorial de
RRR Box Office: Rajamouli's 'RRR' crossed 100 crores, made this tremendous record on Tuesday
SS Rajamouli's film RRR is running at full speed at the box office and is living up to the expect
T20 teams can now be given the option of having 4 extra players so that the playing XI can be cha
'Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hain' fame actor Dipesh Bhan said goodbye to this world forever. From the cele
IRCTC official's driver attacked in Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) Unidentified assailants shot at the driver of a private travel company
Missionaries of Charity calls RSS chief 'misinformed'
Kolkata, Feb 24 (IANS) Missionaries of Charity Tuesday described RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as "uni