‘Live in fear… avoid going out’: On the ground in Una, a month after court acquitted 35 for flogging

“We are full of fear. Since the March 16 verdict, I have almost stopped going out on my two-wheeler. We avoid the villages of the accused (located nearby), even the roads passing by theirs,” Vashram, the first complainant in the case, says.

All the victims belong to the Sarvaiya family, and all are residents of Mota Samadhiyala village in Gir Somnath district. Their assaulters, self-styled cow vigilantes, accused them of killing the cow they were skinning, went on to tie them to a vehicle, partly strip them and parade them on the streets of Una, while flogging them.

Balu Sarvaiya (left), Ashram’s father and one of the victims in the case, at his residence in Mota Samadhiyala village. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)

The 40 accused spent between 15 days and six years in jail, and the 35 acquitted include three police officials, who were accused, among other things, of abetting the accused and forging documents. The five convicted were Ramesh Jadav, Rakesh Joshi, Nagjibhai Vaniya, Pramodgiri Gausvami and Balvantgiri Gausvami, who were seen assaulting the Sarvaiya family youths in the video.

All the accused belong to Una town or villages around Mota Samadhiyala, such as Samter, Nandrakh, Nesda, Umej, Kanak, Barda and Bediya.

This weighs on Vashram’s mind. Provided an armed police constable as escort since the incident, he says he doesn’t venture out anywhere without him after last month’s verdict, even if he has to go out just shopping or to visit someone’s home.

“The accused are emboldened (following the judgment). We fear they may engineer an accident or attack us in some manner,” he says.

Others, all daily wagers, have also stopped leaving home, except for work. “I have told everyone we have to be vigilant,” says Vashram, who has since the incident been speaking for all of those assaulted.

They have reason to be apprehensive, says the 33-year-old, the father of a six-year-old girl. He claims a felicitation linked to the BJP was organised for the accused after their acquittal; Una BJP MLA K C Rathod denies any part in the alleged felicitation.

Vashram also talks about the attack on participants of an Asmita Yatra (march for self-respect) organised by the Dalit community in the area a month after the incident. “Even while the accused were in jail, people attacked the march organised against the Una flogging. How can we live among such people?” Vashram says.

In the process of filing an appeal in the High Court against the Sessions Court order – officials said the government has enough time to decide on filing an appeal – Vashram says: “I had identified all the accused… What kind of justice is this?… We chased the case for 10 years, hoping it would be an example to society. We wanted to give the message that one can get justice if one fights. But now people may say, the victims of Una fought for 10 years, (the then Chief Minister) Anandiben (Patel) and (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi went to their home, and still this is the result they got.”

In its judgment, the Sessions Court also raised questions over the conduct of the victims, directing that they be given a copy of Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography My Experiments With Truth as “compensation”. Vashram says this direction was reflective of the “injustice” to them.

One of the 35 acquitted, speaking off the record, says they have been advised by their lawyers not to talk to the media. On the Sarvaiyas’ claim of being afraid, he says: “It seems they will feel safe only if we move out of Gujarat and settle in some other state… We faced the legal process for 10 years and have been acquitted by court. Who will compensate us for those lost years?”

However, there have been some changes for the better for the Sarvaiyas in that time, says Vashram. They now live in a pucca, two-storey house, instead of their kuchcha dwelling of 2016, with walls taken up by images of Lord Buddha, Dr B R Ambedkar and his wife Ramabai, and Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, reflecting a new awareness.

The Sarvaiyas no longer skin animals for a living. Vashram says their main source of income now is milk from the family’s two buffaloes and three cows. They also cultivate bajra, jowar and some vegetables on 3 bighas of government wasteland on the outskirts of the village.

“We faced the allegation that we had slaughtered cows… We want to show this country that we know how to save a cow. We want to set an example by dedicating our lives to the service of cows,” says Vashram.

“We will take care of abandoned and ill cows, and are planning to meet the District Collector to ask him for land at the same place where we were beaten up for a gaushala. We will seek the support of all religions.”