Prayagraj- A heart-wrenching incident on the night of April 12 in Itaura village of Karchana police station area of Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh created a sensation in the entire area. 30-year-old Dalit youth Devi Shankar was allegedly murdered in a planned manner, after which his body was burnt to destroy evidence. His burnt body was found in a Mahua orchard located east of the village at 5:30 am on Sunday. Azad Samaj Party leader and Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad claimed that this murder was motivated by caste hatred and that some people called Devi Shankar from his house on the pretext of carrying a load and burnt him alive by pouring petrol on him.
According to Dainik Bhaskar’s report, 30-year-old Devi Shankar, son of Dalit Ashok Kumar, who lives in Isota village, used to work as a labourer. He has 3 children. A daughter Kajal and two sons Suraj, Akash. His wife has died. He was the only son of his parents.
Devi Shankar had left home on Saturday evening. Some people had taken the youth from home on the pretext of threshing wheat. When he did not return home the whole night, the family started looking for Devi Shankar in the morning. Meanwhile, the villagers came to know that the half-burnt body of a youth was lying in the garden. When the family reached there, they started crying and shouting.
Father Ashok Kumar said – 4 youths from the village had called and taken away his son Devi Shankar. He was told that he had to do the work of threshing wheat. We saw my son accompanying them.
MP Chandrashekhar also alleged that the killers hurled caste-related abuses at the deceased’s family and threatened to “burn them to death in turns like this.”
According to a report in The Indian Express, Yamunanagar Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Chandra Yadav said that initial investigations suspect the murder to be due to an old rivalry, and six people—Dilip Singh, Vinay Singh, Ajay Singh, Manoj Singh, Sonu Singh, Shekhar Singh, and Monu—have been detained.
The police have registered an FIR under sections of murder and attempt to destroy evidence, while forensic teams are collecting evidence. Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has called the incident “extremely sad and worrisome” and demanded strict action from the government.
Chandrashekhar demanded the immediate arrest of the killers, strict action under the SC/ST Act, trial in a fast-track court, and security, compensation and employment to the victim’s family. Amidst the atmosphere of fear and anger in the village, the police have deployed additional forces, and a thorough investigation of the case is underway.
Former Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati posted on x regarding the incident. She wrote, “The incident of the brutal murder of a Dalit by feudal elements in Karchana, Prayagraj, UP is extremely sad and worrying. The government must take strict action against such criminal, anti-social and feudal elements running amok in the state and establish the rule of law. Also, the government should take the incidents of disrespect to the statue of the Constitution maker Bharat Ratna Param Pujya Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar very seriously and take strict action against such criminals who create tension and violence in the society so that the recurrence of such incidents can be stopped”.
National President of Samajwadi Party (SP) and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav linked this incident to misuse of power and caste violence. Posting on X, he said, “The heinous crime of burning alive a Dalit youth in Prayagraj by a dominant party has proved that the unwanted patronage and arrogance of the power to its people is now making people commit murders openly. By carrying out such an incident before Baba Saheb’s birth anniversary, some powerful people want to give a message of their power to the society. They are negative and tyrannical people with a sick mindset. Let’s see if anyone has the moral strength and energy left to send a bulldozer to the house of these domineering criminal elements or they have surrendered before the criminals and have become cold. If there can be a word lower than ‘reprehensible’ then it should be used to condemn this misdeed.
Courtesy : Geetha Sunil Pillai, Hindi News
