The family in the complaint further accused that the accused persons, the family of a former Sarpanch, tried to electrocute them but could not due to the power cut. As per the complaint, the family said that the prime accused among the mob of 12-15 persons was a former sarpanch of Karili village Udaybhan Singh Yadav who was allegedly targeting them due to an ongoing land dispute between the two families. However, several media reports claimed that the issue had erupted due to the lower caste of the victims and that the upper caste people deliberately launched the attack on them.
A report by Dalit Times attempted to give casteist color to the matter as it said that the ‘Casteists’ crushed the huts of the victims with a tractor and destroyed their crops. It also reported that the complaint by the victim against the former Sarpanch was not taken seriously by the police.
Another similar report filed by the Statesman reported that the ‘upper caste’ people attacked the tribal family in Madhya Pradesh. However, the attack was not out of caste hatred but due to a long-standing land dispute between the two families. The OBC Jankalyan Sangh also suspects that the victim’s family is making partially false allegations against the accused persons by claiming that the latter urinated on them and tried to electrocute them to death.
The incident is said to have happened in the wee hours of Monday when the Adivasi family consisting of 5-6 members was sleeping in their hut in Karili village. A woman from the family filed a complaint at Sirsi police station saying that the accused mob of around 12-15 persons led by former Sarpanch Udaybhan Singh Yadav arrived at the spot with a tractor and ran it over, destroying the wheat crop. She also said that their hut was demolished and they were threatened with death.
In the complaint, the woman further added that the accused persons assaulted them and urinated on them. “They also tried to kill us by electrocuting but could not due to power issues. When we tried to escape from the spot to save our lives, they assaulted us and threatened that we would be killed soon,” the woman said adding that the accused persons brutally assaulted their folk Hari Singh, Sonu, Gyani Singh, and Raju.
Police say urination allegations are misleading
As per the Dalit Times and other similar reports, the police did not take the complaint filed by the woman seriously and instead detained Hari Singh, Gyani Singh, and Raju for interrogation. However, Sirsi police station indicated that the allegations of urination and casteist motives do not appear to be prima facie correct.
“There is no such case of urination of making the victim drink urine. Only a case of assault has come to light. There has been a long-standing land dispute between the two parties. The action was taken after a fight broke out between the two parties at 2 o’clock last night. The issue of crop destruction by tractors has come to light,” said Sirsi officer Abhishek Tripathi.
Meanwhile, Additional SP Mansingh Thakur also confirmed the matter and said that a case has been registered from both sides in the land dispute. “The investigation into the urination episode is going on but prima facie it doesn’t appear to be true. These are tribal people of the Sahariya community. Their old land dispute is going on. They have been fighting for the land. A case has been registered on that basis. The allegations made by the victims will be analyzed and appropriate action will be taken,” he added.
Neither of the reports nor the authorities confirmed that the accused persons had tried to kill the victims and urinated on them. They pressed that the allegations were under investigation and that interrogations of the victim’s family members were underway. During this, the authorities confirmed that there had been a long-standing land dispute between the two families due to which the farm crop had been destroyed.
A report by Dainik Bhaskar mentioned that the tribal family had attacked the Yadavs with an axe and Indrabhan Yadav has suffered a serious head wound in the fight. No such injuries are to be seen in the members of the tribal family. The report also mentioned that the land dispute is between two families of the same tribal community and the Yadavs got involved in it because they have been renting the land to cultivate wheat crop.
Yadavs complain Sahariya family destroyed crops, hit them with axe
It is also said that a scuffle happened in the Monday hours of the incident and that the accused Indrabhan Singh Yadav was injured in the event. Given this, the family of Yadav along with the OBC Jankalyan Sangh has filed a formal complaint with the SP Sanjeev Kumar Sinha accusing the Sahariya family of plotting alleged false allegations against them.
In the complaint, Udaybhan Singh said that his men including his nephew were attacked by Sahariya family over the land dispute. “We had cultivated wheat on a 10-bigha plot, which the Sahariya family claims as their own. Allegedly, the Sahariya family destroyed the crop by running a tractor over it. When we protested, we were assaulted with an axe and other weapons by Hari Singh Sahariya and his family members,” the complaint by Yadavs read.
He also said that his nephew, Indrabhan was brutally assaulted and injured in the event. The Yadav family claims that the Sirsi police registered a cross-case against Indrabhan and three others under political pressure. “The land dispute is currently being adjudicated in court, and a stay order has been issued in their favor. A copy of the stay order was reportedly provided to the Tehsildar and the police station in charge, but the officials allegedly ignored it,” they added.
The national president of the OBC Jankalyan Sangh, Rajkumar Yadav, and Udhaybhan Singh have demanded strict punishment against the tribal family and claimed that the allegations leveled by the victim are all fabricated. They say that the Sahariya people are playing the victim card and taking illegal advantage of the status they have. The Yadavs have demanded an impartial investigation in the case and punishment of the accused.
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