RPI calls agitation to seek gallows for Khairlanji accused

Nagpur, Sep 17 : Republican Party of India (RPI) president Ramdas Athavale has called for a sustained agitation Friday to demand capital punishment for the eight convicted of killing four members of a Dalit family in Khairlanji village in Maharashtra two years back.

“Thousands of Dalits will take out rallies, blockade roads and hold public meetings all over Maharashtra Friday to press for capital punishment not only to the eight of 11 accused held guilty by the Bhandara trial court but to the three who have been let off and the 36 against whom the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to file chargesheets,” Athavale told IANS Wednesday.

“We will also ask the state government to file an appeal in the high court for application of the Atrocities Act (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes Atrocities (Prevention) Act) dropped by the trial court in its ruling,” Athavale said.

The RPI president had Monday hailed the verdict given by First Ad Hoc Sessions Judge S. S. Dass Monday. He said it would go a long way in restoring the faith of Dalits in the judiciary. He had, however, added that he would have been happier if all 11 accused had been found guilty and the Atrocities Act had been applied to them.

A frenzied mob of about 50 villagers of Khairlanji in Bhandara district had attacked the house of a Dalit farmer, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, Sep 29, 2006 and brutally killed his wife Surekha, daughter Priyanka and sons Dilip and Roshan.

While holding eight of the 11 accused guilty of the offence of murder (Section 302 of Indian Penal Code) besides four other related offences, the trial court Monday fixed Sep 20 (Saturday) for hearing the arguments for the quantum of punishment.

Besides ruling that the mob attack was not born out of caste animosity, the court also dismissed the conspiracy theory advanced by the prosecution.

The brutal killings, initially treated as a fallout of a village feud, was later seen as a blatant case of atrocity against a Dalit family by high-caste Hindus, giving rise to widespread public outcry and violent agitations.