A 38-year-old Dalit man was allegedly killed by his upper caste in-laws in Uttarakhand’s Almora district in a suspected hate crime, police said on Friday. The woman’s stepfather, stepbrother and mother have been arrested in connection with the case, an official said.
According to the police, Jagdish Chandra, a member of the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP), and Geeta eloped and solemnised their marriage at a temple in Bhikiyasen on August 21. Geeta’s family, who belonged to the Rajput caste, was allegedly not happy with the relationship, an official said.
On Thursday, Chandra was allegedly abducted by his in-laws while he was on his way to participate in the UPP rally in Nainital. The next day, the revenue police recovered his body in the evening from a vehicle in Bhikiysen area.
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Kavita Manral, a resident of Inoli village and who worked with the deceased, informed the police about Jagdishi’s kidnapping and beating.
Based on a complaint filed by Manral, police have arrested Geeta’s stepfather Joga Singh, stepbrother Govind and mother Bhawana on charges of kidnapping and murder.
{{/usCountry}}Based on a complaint filed by Manral, police have arrested Geeta’s stepfather Joga Singh, stepbrother Govind and mother Bhawana on charges of kidnapping and murder.
{{/usCountry}}The body has been brought to Ranikhet and a panel of doctors conducted post-mortem, and further probe is underway, said senior superintendent of police (Almora) Pradeep Rai.
PC Tiwari, president of the UPP, has accused the police of inaction.
“She (Chandra’s wife) had handed over a letter to SSP on August 27 seeking protection from her relatives and legal action against them,” said Tiwari. Chandra could have been saved, had the administration acted on the couple’s complaint, he added.
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Chandra was a senior worker of UPP and had contested the assembly election twice from Salt assembly constituency in the state.
“Jagdish was an upcoming Dalit leader of the area. He got married to a woman over a sympathy issue who was being harassed by her relatives. The couple had requested the administration for police protection but the request nor hearing and consequence are in front of us,” he added.
The SSP said that before the incident took place, he had instructed officers to look into the wife’s complaint and offer police protection if required.