UP: Five upper-caste men accused of burning alive a Dalit man

Image Courtesy:Twitter

At least three upper-caste men were arrested for allegedly burning alive the husband of Bandoiya village’s Gram Panchayat President in Amethi district on October 29, 2020.

The victim, Arjun Kori, was found outside the house of the accused with burns on 90 percent of his body. He succumbed to his injuries while enroute to a hospital in Lucknow.

According to President Chutaka, her husband had gone out to the village square for a cup of tea on Thursday evening. However, he never returned. Chutaka alleged that Krishna Kumar Tiwari and his four friends abducted Arjun and burnt him alive in their front yard. She claimed that Tiwari threatened them to extort money. Tiwari believed that he was entitled to a ‘cut’ of the government money Chhotka supposedly received. However, when they denied the existence of any such money, the five men burnt the man in a fit of rage, said Chutaka.

According to Amethi Superintendent of Police (SP) Dinesh Singh, police were notified about Arjun’s burnt body outside Tiwari’s house around midnight. The officials took him to the local Primary Health Care centre from where he was referred to a hospital in Sultanpur.

थानाक्षेत्र मुंशीगंज के ग्राम बन्दोइया में प्रधानपति अर्जुन की कृष्ण कुमार के अहाते में अधजले/घायल अवस्था में मिलने व इलाज हेतु लखनऊ ले जाते समय मृत्यु की घटना व साक्ष्य संकलन कर अग्रिम विवेचनात्मक कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में #SP_अमेठी श्री दिनेश सिंह द्वारा दी गयी बाइट @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/SuqXoTleL3
— AMETHI POLICE (@amethipolice) October 30, 2020

Before his death, Arjun’s family recorded his statement wherein he accused K. K. Tiwari, Ashutosh, Rajesh, Ravi and Santosh for burning him alive. The family registered a case of murder at Munshiganj police station against the five men.

The incident has considerably upset Amethi residents as visuals and recordings of the victim were circulated on social media. Netizens have shared news regarding the incident under the hashtag Dalit Lives Matter.

अमेठी जिले के मुंशीगंज कोतवाली क्षेत्र के बंदोइया गांव की दलित महिला ग्राम प्रधान के पति की जलाकर मार डालने की दबंगों ने भयावह कोशिश की।
योगी सरकार मे दलितों का जीना हराम हो गया है।#DalitLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/J2Z8sjyaif
— Piyush Kumar (@i_piyushkumar) October 30, 2020

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Uttar Pradesh recorded 11,829 crimes against Scheduled Castes in 2019 making up nearly 26 percent of the total crimes against Scheduled Castes last year.