Five yrs after Dalit’s murder, his family attacked again
Five years after Madhukar Ghadge, a Dalit who decided to dig his own well, was allegedly brutally murdered by 12 caste Hindus of Kulkajai village in Satara district, his nephew and the sole murder witness Viabhav Ghadge was brutally attacked on January 22 by three persons at the same village.
While the Dhaliwada police have arrested the prime accused Navnath Kapse, the other two assailants are still at large. Kapse was remanded to police custody till January 30. But incidentally, the police have refused to invoke the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the case.
Vaibhav, a postgraduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, had got married two days before the incident. He was on his way to the village temple when three persons on a motorbike stopped him and his wife and attacked them.
Tushar, Viabhav’s cousin and son of Madhukar, said the spot where the incident took place was isolated. “They dragged both my brother and sister-in-law and asked them to hand over all the gold jewellery they were wearing. After that they attacked them,” he said.
He said it is clear that Vaibhav and his wife were attacked because of the old feud. “Still the police has not applied the the Atrocities Act,” Tushar said.
Shahid Pathan, the investigating officer of the case, said there was no apparent reason to apply those sections of law. “The family did not insist
