State compensates kin of slain Dalits

NAGPUR: Almost two weeks after the Kherlanji massacre, the Maharashtra Minister for Social Justice Chandrakant Handore on Thursday gave an aid of Rs4.5 lakh to the only survivor of the Bhotmange family, Bhaiyyalal, and strongly condemned the incident.

“This was a pre-planned killing of the dalit family,” said Handore, after visiting Bhaiyyalal at Deulgaon, where he has moved with his in-laws following a threat to his life in his village Kherlanji.

Bhaiyyalal’s wife Surekha and three young children, including an 18-year-old daughter Priyanka, were brutally done to death after being raped by the entire village. The incident had sent shock waves across the state.

Handore, whose visit followed a demand from the dalit leaders for a high-level inquiry, assured that he would try to secure a job for Bhaiyyalal. The minister said culprits would not be spared.

A human rights body said it would send a fact-finding committee and submit its report to the state Chief Minister. A dalit women’s organisation on Wednesday sought a CID-inquiry and suspension of the Superintendent of Police, Bhandara, for this “unpardonable lapse” in protecting the victimised family.

The organisation said it would launch an intense agitation at Kherlanji village, if the main culprits are not put behind the bars within a week. “It’s also unfortunate that the so-called dalit leaders are keeping mum over the issue,” they said at a press conference.

Handore assured  the victim Bhaiyyalal and the other dalit family of the village, that they would be relocated to a safer place.