Una Dalit flogging case: Didn’t know victims ‘were not minority people’, accused tells HC

Four of the key accused, who were named in the FIR lodged at the Una police station days after the incident — Rameshbhai Jadav, Pramodgiri Goswami, Balwantgiri Goswami and Rakesh Joshi — have sought bail before the Gujarat high court.

A group of cow vigilantes had assaulted Balu Sarvaiya, his wife Kunvar, sons Vashram and Ramesh, nephews Ashok and Bechar as well as relative Devshi Babariya on July 11, 2016. The self-styled gau rakshaks first attacked Vashram, Ramesh, Ashok and Bechar, while they were skinning the carcass of a cow in Mota Samadhiyala village, and accused them of slaughtering the animal. When Sarvaiya and others tried to intervene, they too were thrashed. The assailants then allegedly kidnapped Vashram, Ramesh, Ashok and Bechar in a car, took them to Una town and flogged them publicly before abandoning them near the Una police station. The CID probing the case had charge-sheeted 34 accused, including four policemen who were accused of fudging facts and looking the other way.

Advocate B M Mangukiya, representing the accused Pramodgiri Goswami and Rakesh Joshi, submitted, “The nicety of this offence is, these (accused) are all gau rakshaks, (who were) under the impression that live cow was being killed and their remains were being removed. Nobody knew that these (victims) were persons who are not minority people.”

Mangukiya further argued that the accused seeking bail have been in custody for six years, which is more than the maximum punishment that can be given in case of conviction. With the trial ongoing before a Veraval court, Mangukiya also submitted that the prosecution has sought as many as 13 adjournments, causing delays in the trial. Further hearing on the bail pleas is scheduled to continue on July 18.

Meanwhile, advocate Megha Jani, representing victim Vashram Sarvaiya, opposed the bail pleas and submitted on July 15 that the accused may be kept behind bars till the deposition of witnesses, including the victims, are completed. Jani submitted, “These four persons who are in jail, they were the first to arrive (in the mob) which set the tone. The crowd came thereafter… They were taken to Una (from Mota Samadhiyala) and were paraded half-naked through the market, they were beaten and they were handed over to the police. This is not a simple incident of attack, this is the most gruesome incident we have seen in the recent past under the Atrocities Act. These are the people who thought what they were doing was absolutely right, because they also took them to the police station after beating and parading them half-naked.”

“Somebody after the attack would run away. These are the persons whose presence was from the beginning to the end (in the commission of offence). The trial is still not over, the victims are yet to enter the witness box. About 80 witnesses have been examined and the trial is at a crucial stage… the worry is the victims are yet to enter the witness box. They (victims) have suffered not only this humiliation, it has resulted in them (victims) not taking up this occupation thereafter… The entire family, which is dependent on this occupation, is out of job since 2016. Till the time every witness is examined, till that time, these four persons must be behind bars,” Jani said.