Farmer crushed under Thar, his daughters beaten and stripped over land dispute in Madhya Pradesh

The victim, Ram Swaroop Dhakad, succumbed to his injuries at the district hospital following an hour-long assault that also saw his daughters allegedly stripped and beaten when they tried to intervene.

The incident occurred when Dhakad was on his way to his field with his wife. According to the complaint filed by his daughter, Mahendra Nagar and his associates emerged from their homes and launched an attack on him.

“We heard the commotion and went outside to rescue my father. They hit him with their car,” she stated in her complaint.

The daughter alleged she was assaulted when she attempted to save him. “When I was going to rescue my father, they sat on top of me and assaulted me. They tore my clothes, pushed me and threw me. They also fired a bullet and pulled my hair,” she alleged.

An eyewitness to the attack, Ram Babu Nagar, corroborated the family’s account.

“Ram Swaroop was attacked by 10-15 people with wooden sticks. Mahendra also sat on his daughter’s chest when she tried to intervene. Then Jitender ran a Thar vehicle over Ram Swaroop’s feet. Both his feet were crushed,” he stated, adding that there had been a land dispute between the parties for the last three months.

The victim’s brother, Ramkumar, described the assault. “They tore off the clothes of both girls. Around 20 people fired in the air, so we got scared. They continued the assault for around an hour. The accused then ran a tractor over him and then later a car,” he alleged.

Police said that the injured farmer was prevented from being taken to a hospital for nearly an hour. When Dhakad was finally transported to the district hospital, he died during treatment.

A senior police officer provided details of the underlying dispute. “The incident took place in Ganeshpura village at Fatehgarh. Ram Swaroop was involved in a land dispute with one Kanhaiya, a resident of Rajasthan. There was a dispute between the two persons over six bighas of land in Rajasthan. Due to this enmity, Kanhaiya, Mahendra and 13-14 others, including women, assaulted Ram Swaroop. He sustained fractures in many places,” the officer stated.

The victim’s family has alleged that Mahendra Nagar had been threatening small farmers in the area to sell their land and that Dhakad’s refusal to comply led to the fatal attack.

An FIR has been registered against Mahendra Nagar, three women from his family, and 14 others under sections pertaining to murder and other relevant charges. Fatehgarh Station House Officer Jayanarayan Sharma confirmed that statements from the victim’s family have been recorded and raids are underway to arrest the accused.

Congress MLA from Bamori, Rishi Agrawal, condemned the incident and alleged government inaction. “Cases of violence, looting and rape are increasing in Madhya Pradesh. The Chief Minister of the state is also the Home Minister, and all this is happening under his watch. The police are working in fear of those in power,” Agrawal said.

The BJP has denied that the accused was associated with its party. “The accused is said to be a former sarpanch of the area. They don’t fight on a party ticket. Furthermore, allegations that the accused had appeared in pictures with BJP leaders are unfounded, as even Congress leaders pose with our party members for photos. They are public representatives and have to meet people. The accused persons are not associated with our party,” said BJP spokesperson Shivam Shukla.