Dalit RTI activist hacked to death at home in Bhavnagar

She said the incident took place around 4.30 pm on Tuesday. “Around 50 members of Darbars (Kshatriyas) of our village passed by our home playing DJ music when my father and I were standing outside. They returned a while later and started throwing stones on us. We have police protection, yet they managed to barge in with spear, axes, pipes and swords,” Nirmala is heard saying in a video clip.

She was rushed to Sir Takhtasinhji General Hospital in Bhavnagar city after being injured in the attack. Nirmala said that her father was attacked in 2013 also when his leg was broken.

Arvind Makwana, a worker of Navsarjan, an Ahmedabad-based NGO working for Dalit rights, said that around a month ago, Boricha, a farmer by occupation, had given a complaint at Ghogha police station against Kshatriyas but sub-inspector PR Solanki of Ghogha did not register an FIR. “Boricha moved a court in this respect. In the meantime, he was attacked by a group of Kshatriyas,” said Makwana.

No FIR was registered at Ghogha police station till around 10.30 pm in connection with Boricha’s murder. Phone calls to PSI Solanki, Bhavnagar SP and Bhavnagar IG went unanswered.

Makwana alleged that Boricha’s was the lone Dalit family in Sanodar village and the Kshatriyas were trying to usurp his agricultural land as well as residential plot. “Around a month ago, the accused had encroached on Boricha’s residential plot. He had given a complaint to police but no action was taken,” said Makwana.