The brutal incident of the death of a mother and daughter on Monday during an anti-eviction campaign in Madauli village of Metha tehsil of Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh has sparked outrage across the country.
The video of the two victims running to their hut to stop the demolition, the hut suddenly bursting into flames and the bulldozer demolishing the burning hut has created a lot of anguish in the minds of the people. All this happened in the presence of policemen, women constables, Tehsildar, Lekhpal and SDM.
The hut belonged to Krishna Gopal Dixit, who suffered severe burns, while his wife Pramila (41) and daughter Neha (21) died in the blaze. It can be clearly seen in the video that Pramila resists the demolition squad and then runs inside the hut with her daughter. The policemen forcibly broke open the door of the hut which suddenly caught fire. Dixit and his son Shivam managed to get out of the burning hut. While the two women lay dying in the flames, bulldozers demolished whatever was left of the cottage. The demolition was done on the basis of a complaint filed by Lekhpal, who said that it was built on rural community land.
No one knows who set the hut on fire. In the video, an officer’s voice was heard instructing the bulldozer driver to proceed and demolish the hut. The hut was built only a month ago in place of a concrete building that was earlier demolished by the local authorities. The family claims that the house is built on ancestral land.
Eyewitnesses said that Lekhpal had set the hut on fire during the scuffle. After the incident, SDM Lekhpal and other officials fled from the spot.
As soon as the matter got out of hand, senior officials of the UP government reached the village. Kanpur Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar, DM Neha Jain, Additional DGP Alok Kumar and other officials went to the village and tried to persuade the residents to allow the cremation of the dead bodies. UP Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak spoke to Pramila’s son over phone and promised action against all the culprits. Finally, the dead bodies were cremated on Wednesday morning.
According to Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar, Metha Tehsil SDM Dnyaneshwar Prasad has been suspended, while bulldozer driver Deepak Kumar and Lekhpal Ashok Singh have been arrested. Police have registered an FIR under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) against SDM Lekhpal, Rura police station SHO Dinesh Kumar Gautam, three other officers, 12 to 15 policemen and three local residents (all Brahmins). Section 436, 429 and Section 34 of IPC.
Minister of State Pratibha Shukla has blamed District Magistrate Neha Jain for this terrible incident. She and Pramila’s son Shivam Dixit said the family members tried to meet the DM in January, but he refused to listen to their pleas and instead directed the authorities to register a case against them. “It was not a case of eviction, but a well-planned conspiracy to kill the entire family,” Shivam said.
On the day when this terrible incident happened, the District Magistrate was dancing with joy on the stage at the Kanpur Mahotsav. Minister of State Pratibha Shukla called the DM “insensitive”.
Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, staged protests against the incident. SP leaders were stopped by the police from going to the village. He described the present government as “anti-Brahmin” and alleged that the state government was trying to save the DM.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said in her tweet, ‘The bulldozer of the BJP government with inhuman vision has become a threat to humanity and sensitivity. The heartbreaking incident in Kanpur is condemnable. We should raise our voice against such inhuman act. We demand that justice should be given to the victim’s family in Kanpur and strict action should be taken against the culprits.
His brother Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “When the arrogance of power takes away the right of life from the people, it is called dictatorship.” I am deeply hurt by the incident in Kanpur. This ‘bulldozer policy’ has become the cruel face of this government. India will never accept this.
Two women of a family were burnt alive, but political parties are looking at this incident through the prism of caste. Nothing can be more unfortunate than this. This is a very narrow view.
We should understand the facts. Earlier the hut that was demolished with bulldozers belonged to a Brahmin family. The second person who is accused of murder is a Brahmin. How can this be considered an atrocity on Brahmins? Where does the question of caste arise when both the perpetrator and the victim are Brahmins? This case is clearly a case of abuse of official position and power at the lowest level, which smacks of collusion and bribery.
A man files a complaint and Lekhpal joins him in demolishing the hut with a bulldozer. He sets the hut on fire. The local police also acted in connivance and remained mute spectators. The SDM is responsible as he only did the paperwork and saw the hut burning.
DM is also not innocent. The family had met the DM a month ago with their plea, but he turned them away. Lekhpal had registered a case accusing this family of land mafia. The family, which did not have a roof over its head and had only 22 goats, was being called a land mafia. The senior officers remained silent. Apparently Lekhpal gained confidence and became the devil. Action should be taken against all those responsible for this horrific incident. I have full hope that Yogi Adityanath will take strict action as soon as possible.
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