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Journalism of Courage
Almsot a month after five Dalits were lynched in Dulina village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, the State Government today arrested five persons in connection with the crime.
But the backlash started barely an hour after the news that five men—one of them, a Dalit named Somvir —had been picked up at around 5 a.m. from Sura village adjoining Dulina: outraged villagers pelted stones at the police, uprooted trees to barricade the highways and blocked vehicular movement on the main roads leading out of Jhajjar towards Gurgaon, Delhi and Rewari until late evening.
The five Dalits were killed on October 16 by a mob, allegedly in the presence of policemen, when word spread that they were skinning a cow. According to the police, the five men arrested this morning were present at the scene of the crime, and eyewitnesses had confirmed their involvement in the lynching.
‘‘We have been eying these five ever since the incident took place. But we delayed the arrests because we anticipated a reaction of the villagers and wanted to temper it,’’ Mohammed Akil, Superintendent of Police, Jhajjar, told The Indian Express.
Four of the five persons arrested are in the age group of 20-30 years. But Sura residents claimed that nine people have been picked up. By late afternoon, a mob had gathered to pelt the assembled police with stones, earning a lathi charge and tear gas in return.
At least three policemen and 12 villagers were injured in the violence, some of them seriously, and police had to clamp prohibitory orders. Resident of Sura and neighbouring villages, including women, could be spotted moving around with lathis and farm equipment.
Trunks, lorries and other vehicles were lined up along the roads, and heavy vehicular traffic was being cleared until late into the night. Shops, business establishments and schools were forced to down their shutters allegedly by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists—a claim that SP Akil dismissed. Schools in the area will remain shut till November 15.
