Posted On March 3, 2021

Boricha, who had complained against the Kshatriyas for usurping his land, had to move court because the police didn’t file an FIR. The assailants killed him with spear and sword, inside his house.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• On Tuesday, a Dalit RTI activist was allegedly murdered by a group of persons in Gujarat

• The accused killed the man with sword, spear and iron pipes

New Delhi: A 50-year-old Dalit RTI activist was allegedly hacked to death inside his home by a group of ‘upper’-caste Kshatriyas in Sanodar village of Ghogha taluka in Bhavnagar district in Gujarat on Tuesday, Indian Express reported. The activist’s daughter was also injured in the attack, police told the daily.

Activist Amrabhai Boricha’s daughter told the newspaper that the incident happened around 4:30 pm on Tuesday when a group of 50 Kshatriyas of the village passed by their house while she and her father were standing outside. “They returned a while later and started throwing stones on us. As my father rushed inside the house for safety, the assailants broke the gate, barged in and attacked my father with spear, iron pipes and sword, killing him,” she told the Indian Express.

A month ago, Boricha, who was primarily a farmer, had complained against the Kshatriyas at the Ghogha police station, but sub-inspector P.R. Solanki did not register an FIR, Arvind Makwana from Navsarjan, an Ahmedabad-based NGO working for Dalit rights, told the daily. According to the report, the Kshatriyas were trying to usurp Boricha’s agricultural land as well as residential plot.

Boricha’s is the only Dalit family in the village, the report added.

Since his complaint was not registered by the police, Boricha moved court; meanwhile he as attacked by a group of Kshatriyas, Makwana told Indian Express.

The daughter told the newspaper that her father was also attacked in 2013 and his leg was broken.

A case of Boricha’s murder was not registered at Ghogha police station till around 10.30 pm. Phone calls made by the newspaper to PSI Solanki, Bhavnagar SP and Bhavnagar IG went unanswered.

Across the country, the total number of those murdered allegedly for seeking information under the RTI has now risen to 89, according to  the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. The number of RTI activists allegedly assaulted stands at 173, as per the data.

Courtesy : IE