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Unnao case: Prime accused’s family calls the shots, father village head for 15 years
The day Shivam Trivedi, the prime accused in raping and setting an Unnao woman on fire, was released on bail in the rape case and reached his village, his family
The day Shivam Trivedi, the prime accused in raping and setting an Unnao woman on fire, was released on bail in the rape case and reached his village, his family celebrated in a big way, said two policemen.
Laddoos were distributed in the Unnao village on December 3. Relatives were given a feast at the ancestral house of the Trivedis who dominate the village.
Quickly, word was passed onto the woman’s family that they should settle matters at the earliest.
“My daughter made it clear that nothing will work unless Shivam married her and she was accepted in the family,” said her father.
This was unacceptable to the Trivedis. They were Brahmins and the girl was from a lower caste.
At least on two occasions, people from both the sides held consultations at a panchayat in the village to reach a solution.
Each time, Shivam’s father and village headman Hari Shankar Trivedi made it clear the marriage with her was out of picture.
“He was candid that since both of them belonged to different castes, marriage cannot take place,” said Manoj Kumar, Trivedi’s brother.
Second, Shivam was just 21 and still in college.
“First, the caste factor and second, he was not earning. Who will allow marriage in such a condition?” he said.
Hari Shankar Trivedi is the village headman for the last 15 years.
He has been winning the election to the post because of Brahmin dominance in the four villages, which form his constituency with 2000 voters.
Sizeable land holdings, several orchards and other sources of income make his family an affluent one.
Few houses in the village matched his, which is plastered on all sides and has an SUV.
His clout helped him gain easy access to all politicians who mattered, enabling him to settle disputes in the village and nearby with the police help, said a villager who did not wish to be named.
People from the lower castes have few houses in the village. Of the 125 houses in the village, only 14 belonged to the lower castes.
“We have never been a match in any sense; meant for subjugation. She was courageous to take such a stand; her demand to marry a son of a Brahmin shook them,” said a shopkeeper who did not wish to be named.
The Trivedis closed ranks to protect Shivam—first from the woman and then from the police.
He was not arrested for more than a month after she somehow managed to get an FIR registered in March this year on the court’s intervention. Police did not touch his cousin Shubham at all.
A villager recalled the day the police came to a serve notice for property attachment as Shubham had not been arrested. The Trivedis tore it off and threw the paper on the ground in the presence of the police, the villager said.
